Debut albums often go one of two ways: either they are the product of years of work and are a true masterpiece, but leave little room for growth or progress, or they are a starting hurtle that showcases a band’s potential, but isn’t free of a few cracks and imperfections. For Kansas City based rock trio Beautiful Bodies their debut album Battles leans a bit more towards the latter.
Battles serves up everything listeners have been told to expect from Beautiful Bodies: high energy, danceable, yet, edgy rock tracks. The album shows that the band has a confident swagger to their sound that would be criminal to ignore. This charisma is most notable on tracks like “She’s a Blast” and “Subversive Lover” with vocals that easily go from sweet to gritty in mere moments.
The album presents listeners with the wide range the band has to offer. With songs including the pop spiked track about on-again-off-again romance “Capture & Release” to Politically charged track “September 1973” to the uplifting outcast anthem “Invincible” to the melancholy ballad “Gone, Gone, Gone,” Battles gives a little taste of everything. But that’s a bit where this album finds it’s weakness.
This debut is certainly a collection of some really great and impressive tracks, but somehow, even after several listens, the songs don’t feel quite unified. The album plays more like a compilation rather than a single unit. Regardless, with this vibrant first full-length Beautiful Bodies have proven to be a band to watch this year and in the years to come.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended Tracks: “She’s a Blast”, “Lies” and “Gone, Gone, Gone”
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