About five months ago, Bang Camaro released their second studio album, Bang Camaro II, and have been following it up with a tour.  For no good reason, I have waited until now to finally listen to the record and am ready to write a hasty, hardly-professional review critiquing someone else's hard work even though I have no professional or musical credentials.  God bless the Internetz.

This next part works like one of those "choose your own adventures":

You don't know who Bang Camaro is:  Uggh, this isn't worth my time.  Go look them up for yourself.  Better yet, just go stick your dick in a blender.
You know who Bang Camaro is:  Excellent!  Continue reading.


If you've made it this far, I will assume that your manhood and genitalia are intact, which is good, because you will need both to thoroughly enjoy this album.  It should really come as no surprise that this album follows in the footsteps of the first - did you really expect anything else?  It's dripping with the same 80's-inspired arena rock that made the first album so good.  The 10 new tracks are laiden with plenty of soaring guitars and sexy man-crooning.  Well, it's really more like 9 new tracks since "I Know You Like My Band" is really just a rehash of "You Know I Like My Band" on the first album (Bang Camaro).

According to the ever-flowing fountain of knowledge and truth (Wikipedia), "all" 9 tracks were released as singles, including "Revolution", which will be included in the upcoming game The Sims 3, and "Night Lies", which is in Rock Band 2.  Personally, I'm digging the 3-4-5 combo on this album:  "Revolution", "She's Gone (Critical)", and "Miss Illusion".  The other highlight (mostly because I wasn't expecting it) is the acoustic track "The Hit", which has a nice "it's the end of the evening and I'm super-drunk" sound to it.

Here's the obligatory part of the review where I have to compare this album to the first in a series of questions that I ask aloud and then answer.  Is this album as good as the first?  Not quite.  Is it a case of the sophomore slump?  Not at all.  Is it a glorious manfest of rock?  Absolutely.  Bang Camaro II is chock full of excellent guitar work, a pounding rhythm section, and a choir of grown men singing about the lies they tell women to get them in bed.  In other words, it is good.

Even though I like the first album better, I encourage, nay, I implore you to listen to this album and/or see a Bang Camaro show.  Speaking as someone who has seen them perform in a club the size of my living room, I can say that they are a pretty fantastic live act.  As readers of this blog, it is your duty to support good rock music, especially good rock music that is undeniably unique.  So put down that Nickelback album, or that Chris Cornell album, or (yes, I'm going to say it) that U2 album, and pick up Bang Camaro II instead.  And if you've recently had an unpleasant run-in with a blender, you should also pick up this album because you're going to need something to take your mind off the very long and painful road of surgery and rehabilitation that awaits you.


Check out Bang Camaro's web site and try to make it to some upcoming tour dates:

Apr 18 - The War Legion Underground w/ Leslie - Amarillo, Texas - ALL AGES!
Apr 19 - Launchpad w/ Leslie - Albuquerque, New Mexico - 21 Plus
Apr 21 - The Casbah w/ Leslie - San Diego, California
Apr 24 - Jimmy Kimmel Live! - Los Angeles, California
Apr 25 - The Viper Room w/ Leslie - Los Angeles, California

WITH MONSTER MAGNET

May 15 - The Blender Theatre at Gramercy w/ Monster Magnet, ALL AGES!! - NY, NYC
May 16 - Starland Ballroom w/ Monster Magnet, ALL AGES!! - Sayreville, New Jersey