"I want to see you smiling in a photo of Japan..."
There is something about Billy Bardo's slick and sultry rocker "Foto of Japan" that hits me in the heart and gut like the kind of jangly darkly romantic new wave song that I would of heard at the Whiskey on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood way back in 78. I imagine Bardo on a bill with other artists like the Plimsouls and Nick Guilder. Within Bardo's swing and musical narrative there are tones that do feel like an amalgam of artist like the Plimsouls and (for me) the halcyon days of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. You feel a tinge of country or folk behind the rock.
Now everyone pigeonholes artists within their very own halcyon days so you might feel a kinship with the vast sounds Billy Bardo cultivates on his recently released full length "Midnight at the Sunset Ballroom" that might include other epic artist from the 90's, 2000's or currently (Japandroids comes to mind). It is the mark of a great songwriter, soundscapist and vocalist that the music feels or is cross generational and you definitely get that sense in spades with Bardo. There is a absolutely wanderlust vast sound, big guitar strikes, heartland rock and even art rock ascensions, more ballsy than the Killers and Springsteen but Bardo possesses that kind of thing. Bardo's voice feels classical indie rockish, the man can wail in a serious artful way. There is also a rabid sort of sinewy sound too like a crashing collision of (this is going to sound weird) of The Raconteurs and Los Angeles Punk icons X. Yeah, I will stand with that description, just listen to the punk country fury of "So Alive I Could Die" and argue with me.
Now everyone pigeonholes artists within their very own halcyon days so you might feel a kinship with the vast sounds Billy Bardo cultivates on his recently released full length "Midnight at the Sunset Ballroom" that might include other epic artist from the 90's, 2000's or currently (Japandroids comes to mind). It is the mark of a great songwriter, soundscapist and vocalist that the music feels or is cross generational and you definitely get that sense in spades with Bardo. There is a absolutely wanderlust vast sound, big guitar strikes, heartland rock and even art rock ascensions, more ballsy than the Killers and Springsteen but Bardo possesses that kind of thing. Bardo's voice feels classical indie rockish, the man can wail in a serious artful way. There is also a rabid sort of sinewy sound too like a crashing collision of (this is going to sound weird) of The Raconteurs and Los Angeles Punk icons X. Yeah, I will stand with that description, just listen to the punk country fury of "So Alive I Could Die" and argue with me.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
savethesunset.com
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Billy Bardo is a songwriter, producer and snake-oil shaman.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
savethesunset.com
Bandcamp
YouTube
Billy Bardo is a songwriter, producer and snake-oil shaman.
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