Monday, November 5, 2012

Inflatable Best Friend-DMT Bike Ride

Inflatable Best Friend
are:
Austin McQuater-Bass guitar
Ian Howell -precussion
Tanner Boerman-guitar/vocals



Inflatable Best Friend or IBF to some are releasing their debut album on January 18th 2013. I had the privilege of listening to it early to write this review. If you have been reading and keeping up with my blog here you'll remember way back in 2011 when I interviewed them. Their sound off the bat in the demos we're rough tracks but these guys put a great album together that really sums up how they're supposed to sound live. As most first bands have a hard time getting a good concrete studio quality demo out this album is crystal clear. It does have a bit of lo-fidelity feel to it. I would not mind having a copy of this on tape if that puts things in perspective. 

The album is titled-DMT Bike Ride. The album artwork looks hand drawn. It's a little guy riding a bike while on a drug trip. The first track immediately took me to early 90s era punk/almost Smashing Pumpkins/Sonic Youth-esque. The guys recorded it and all of the other tracks at in the basement of Village Castle. The tracks were mixed/mastered at WIDR Studios with the help of Golden Joe & Eli Kroes. As a fan of lofi/grunge/and fuzzed out punk...this album won't disappoint you. (For fans of shoegaze I think you'll like this too) It will take you back to a time where music videos were about driving around really fast and spilling your coffee in your lap and doing donuts in parking lots. 

The album itself was written pretty unconventionally. It has a ton of riffing and funky drum fills. Joe & Eli did a really well job showcasing that uniqueness Inflatable Best Friend has to offer. The guys in IBF also did a good job of not putting you to sleep when you listen to it. From start to finish it's like you're opening a book and can't put it down until you've read the end of it. DMT Bike ride has 11 tracks and will be released in Vinyl Record on Inflatable's self-label "Obvious Records." Only 250 copies will be available. My favorite of all the tracks on this was: Swiss Cheese Brain.