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WALKING BOMBS “Blessings Bestrewn Part 1”
WALKING BOMBS “Blessings Bestrewn Part 1”
By: Lord Randall
While being extremely new to shapeshifter(s) WALKING BOMBS, courtesy of the January 2025 mixtape “Bong Hits For The Death Of Imperialism”, I quickly realized there was something possibly fantastic to be discovered. I mined the “Brave Hours” record of 2017, surprised to find more of a “true” band setup (whatever that is anymore), and found the indie-folk of ‘Loveislove’ childlike that best way, simple and strong enough to be. ‘Flower Punx 4ever’ became a memory trip through my own days of coming up in that glorious era of skaters/BMXers who jammed RUN DMC, CIRCLE JERKS and HUSKER DU on the regular, with occasional forays into SLAYER for the energy boost.
Joining Morgan Y. Evans collaborator Ash Umhey, “Blessings Bestrewn Part 1” was three years in the making, and affiliations who take/took part in GRIDFAILURE, GEEZER, STORMLAND and the incomparable CYCLE SLUTS FROM HELL join in as part of WALKING BOMBS’ revolving cast of characters.
The chirpa-chirpa-chirp of crick-crick-crickets introduces “Mirror Mosh”, GRIDFAILURE’s Dave Brenner dancing on the pedals, lending his honey-sweet, soulful timbre to a psychefunkindelic slameroo, SCATTERBRAIN on bath salts when it comes to the all-over-the-placeness of the goings on. Casually strolling, headboppingly catchy, “Shitical Darlings” trickles into “The Lonely Petition (Grace Remnants)”, plaintive, rustic folk, but shot through with bits of MICHAEL YONKERS and THE BEVIS FROND in its experimentalism. BOOK OF WYRMS’ Sarah Moore-Lindsay’s vocals make this one special, confirming that the right collaboration and camaraderie in music can take an already good song and make it great.
“Enby Soul Endogenous” is lo-fi noise war, disjointed, synths crumpling and programmed drums rat-claw-skittering across haywire guitars, while “Mountain Giantess” takes the same lo-fi indie approach and applies it to doomy stonerisms, sounding likewhat an early and more inspired OZZY might’ve crafted in his Warwickshire bedroom with a 4-track and the lack of Messrs. Iommi, Ward and Butler to guide him. “Lizard Boy” comes off like a shroomed-out BLIND MELON B-Side, which thrives on its own quirkiness, while the closing title track is simply perfect, a shining beacon of the hope of companionship and togetherness in increasingly divisive times.
“Blessings Bestrewn Part 1” has that admirable blessing/curse of being an album that is at once “not for everyone” and for everyone. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear…”
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