Album Review: Bang, Another Me
Another Me is the seventh full-length from Philly-region heavy rockers Bang, who got their start in 1969 and in 1971 released their self-titled debut through Capitol Records. Like many, their history as a group is long and tumultuous, vocalist/bassist Frank Ferrara, guitarist/vocalist Frankie Gilcken and drummer/lyricist Tony Diorio releasing two more records — 1972’s Mother/Bow to the King and 1973’s Music — in their original era, eventually calling it quits and reuniting in time to put out 1999’s RTZ – Return to Zero before the century turned, then following with 2004’s 2LP The Maze. A handful or two of drummers coming and going in the meantime, Bang‘s reputation as a classic band grew to new generational appreciation with the 2010 release of the 4CD box set Bullets through Rise Above Relics, concurrent to a reissue of the self-titled. As Bang returned once again in 2014 and took to touring life in the modern, post-social media underground, the self-titled was also pressed in 2016 through Svart and has an edition arriving alongside the eight-song, 38-minute Another Me, through the trio’s current label, Cleopatra Records.
All of which is to say that even as Bang‘s legend is set in stone and chasing them down, the direction they’re moving is forward. Another Me is led off by its hooky title-track, transposing personal struggle onto clarion riffing that’s as much classic metal as rock, sharper in tone than one might expect having seen them live, but setting an easy groove through its intro, open verse and volume-surge chorus that would, should and does preface in its structure some of what’s to come throughout the subsequent tracks, as in the layered vocal melodies in “Two Angels” in the mirror position at the start of side B, or the finale “This Night,” which works to vary persona and mood while remaining structurally verse/chorus in the tradition of Bang‘s influences, whether some Beatles poking through in the piano and bouncing rhythm of side A’s “Man of God” and the aforementioned closer, which brings tambourine to the mix — Diorio and the band’s new/live drummer Danny Piselli both feature on the album, but I’ve no clue on the actual division of percussive labor — or the late highlight “Tin Man,” which with its harmonies sounds like the skull from whence Uncle Acid sprang, its chorus complemented by a return of the keys from “Man of God,” the band’s arrangements fluid and unforced, like the tempo and the delivery of the material itself.
I’ll admit I may forever have a soft spot in my heart for Bang after seeing them live however many times, and Another Me accounts for their status as a classic underground band — three LPs on Capitol, which you’ll recall also put out The Beatles, is nothing to sneeze at — without trying to pretend the intervening half-century hasn’t happened. The production sound is modern — I’ve never heard an original-era-heavy act put out a new release with vintage-style recording; would be an interesting experiment — and, again, has a bit more edge to Gilcken‘s guitar tone than was anticipated, which only ends up bolstering the overall vitality. Ferrara‘s vocals are clear amid the proto-metal chug of “Drone Pilot,” and whether it’s “Clouds” turning the riff from “Looks That Kill” into catchy biker rock or the clear-eyed psychedelic lean of “Tin Man,” or the way “Broken Toys” builds into its relatively noisy, solo-topped ending, Bang deliver an accessible and welcoming encapsulation of their sound. They’ve never been as outwardly heavy, and they’ve pushed the scale of their melodicism likewise to a level that would seem to have been reached thanks to their time spent on stages around the US and beyond in the better part of the last decade.
How many bands do you know who can trace their tenure back more than 50 years — even if they broke up for part of that, as most do — and are still trying ideas in new material? Three? Maybe five? Having grown up as part of the first generation of rock and roll fans in America, Bang are no less a part of the genre’s legacy for their craft than for the obvious passion that continues to drive them. And they may have been tagged as the US’ answer to Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin in their early going, and one could throw Judas Priest on the pile there for some of the riffs Bang follow here, but Another Me is much more about who Bang are as themselves. Gilcken‘s lead guitar pulling notes in the riff cycles of “Man of God” and soloing in layers around the bass and drums to complement Ferrara‘s vocals, the mid-paced flow of even the the more aggressive “Another Me” and “Broken Toys,” hints of doom abounding there and in the swing of “Tin Man” and the burlier digging-in that takes place across “This Night.” In their atomic-level makeup, Bang are more rock than metal, whatever impact their style may have had on the development of the latter, and Another Me manifests those two sides fascinatingly, with turns of atmosphere and mood that are no challenge to make because of the strength of their songwriting and performances.
That’s not a new formula and I don’t think Bang are hoping to convince anyone otherwise, but as a group whose reputation will precede them for many who take them on, they successfully walk a difficult path in offering Another Me not as the work of Bang circa ’71-’73, but of Bang now. If you’re old enough to answer, are you the same person you were half a century ago? What about 20 years? 10? Another Me isn’t positioning itself as being of any moment other than this one, and maybe that suits Ferrara, Gilcken and Diorio (and Piselli) most of all. Is it their last record? Hell if I know. But 19 years after their ‘most recent’ long-player, Bang are back with a collection that adds to their story rather than pulling away from past accomplishments, and for right now, that’s plenty, more than was expected, and certainly, certainly much more than they owed anyone. Call it a win and be happy it exists.
Bang, “Another Me”
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