BALD EAGLE- Bacon and Eggs, Dear,CD

Bald Eagle plays spastically riffilicious hard rock with a looseness and fondness for groovy breakdowns. Justin Nardy's bass rumbles like a muscle car that needs a new muffler. Guitarists Danny Matteson and Mikey Wheeler play on top of each other's guitars like caged puppies climbing on one another and clamoring for attention. Justin McCrady attacks his drums like a mutant Keith Moon with extra tentacles. "Do a Backflip, Jerk" is a 2:10 of speedy rock with fast, heavy chords that eventually emphasize string scraping, harmonics, and various other noisy guitar techniques during a instrumental break. A horn section increases the tension and adds extra dynamic oomph to "The Carl Weathers Report". In "Wind up Deap in a Camaro," horns add a little Memphis to Bald Eagle's Missouri melting pot of rock. Album closer "Sniffing Glue and Casual Sex" begins shockingly quiet and showcases guest violinist Lucas Allen. It's a strong end to an exciting album that, nonetheless, sags during a few of the middle tracks. Bald Eagle accomplishes a lot by picking and choosing elements of hardcore, hard rock, emo, soul, and even a bit of Sly Stone-style psychedelic funk for its tracks. Some of the songs feel a bit deflated, though, after repeat listens. The audacious performances-and even the song titles and artwork- on the album show that Bald Eagle can be a fun, spontaneous band. Some tracks, such as "Salute the Damned," capture a band that wants to stretch its wings but needs to stay in flight school a little bit longer. Although its a fine album, Bacon and Eggs, Dear sugests two things: First, Bald Eagle probably is more thrilling to hear when it perches on stage during a live show. And second, they're still maturing musically.

Review by Justin Marciniak. Punk Planet Issue ..75 "The Revenge of Print 2"