Album Review: Basht. - 'Poor Advice'
Loud, infectious, poignant, confident, reflective, Basht. knock down all expectations and then some with debut album, Poor Advice.
Dublin four-piece Basht. hold nothing back on their debut album, Poor Advice, which is set to be released on the 9th of October. If you’ve not heard of Basht. yet, now's the time to get to know them. Made up of Jack Leavey on vocals and guitar, Ryan McClelland on drums, Louis Christle on bass, and Lughaidh Armstrong Mayock on lead guitar, Basht. have mastered a sound that is very much their own. For a relatively new band on the scene, they already ooze a quiet confidence that took many well-established bands years to find. The confidence and chemistry between the band members can be heard throughout Poor Advice, a debut album that will capture your attention from the get-go and take you on one hell of a journey.
The album opens with the haunting Dive, which is all slow, methodical drums, pulsating guitars and Leavey’s deep, biting vocals; it carries the weighty, familiar and now well-loved sound of Basht. It’s immediately gripping, the darkness of the track carrying you throughout. The album is nothing if not smooth, the opener flowing effortlessly into Perfume, which was the band’s first single from Poor Advice. Honing in on the grip the Catholic Church has had on Ireland, Perfume is a slow burner of a track. A track that continues to progressively build, the precise pluck of guitars becoming more vicious, bleeding, the drums picking up speed. It’s reminiscent of The Smiths How Soon Is Now?
Love Actually-inspired, Kiera Knightley is a fiery, bone-rattling track, one that ebbs and flows between a slow, precise sound and a loud, chaotic one. Those who have seen Basht. live will be familiar with the song, familiar with the chaos that comes with it when bodies fling themselves around a mosh pit. If you have not seen them live, that scene is still easy to picture just from listening to the song. Each track on Poor Advice feels relatable as a listener, an album that could help them “understand themselves a little better, maybe,” according to Leavey, particular those from Ireland. However one track in particular can be relatable to all, regardless of location, Terror TV.
Terror TV is one of the standout tracks from Basht.’s debut for many reasons. It is, in theory, a lighter post-punk track compared to the beginning of the album. It’s urgent, punchy, infectious, immediately getting under your skin. While it feels like new territory for the band, underneath the track’s upbeat sound is Basht.’s familiar grittiness; their heaviness is laced throughout the lyrics. Terror TV represents the exhaustion, the feeling of helplessness, the overwhelm that comes with watching global conflicts, such as genocide, playing out on our screens, as well as how desensitised society is becoming to it all now too.
Superchurch carries an extremely personal feel to it, one that those who have grown up in an Ireland ruled by the Catholic Church can very much relate to. The lingering guilt that many of us will have felt when trying to escape it. Opening with the slow, steady pluck of guitars, followed by Leavey’s haunting vocals, Superchurch is hypnotic. “I know you won’t understand / just why I’m leaving this church / I’ve drawn a line in the sand.” Basht. aren’t afraid to tackle heavy subjects head-on, which has been obvious from the beginning of the album, yet Superchurch, despite its gentler tone, hits you like a bolt of lightning. “I’ll meet you in the setting sun / beyond the walls of Eden / and greet you as a free man.” A subtle nod to those who have escaped the grasp of the church, and to those who are perhaps still trying.
Basht. continue to kick doors down throughout the second half of their album, with tracks like Vermillion Reptilian and Circadia. Basht. have a very distinctive, unique sound, but the occasional influence sometimes bleeds through. Vermillion Reptilian feels like another subtle nod to The Smiths, while the riotous opening of Circadia carries undertones of Idles. Both, however, are inherently Basht. dark, gritty, packing a punch. And for all their rage and noise, the band are not afraid to slow things down. With Moth, they lay themselves completely bare, vulnerable, almost delicate “well you came in through the window / attracted to the light / landed on my shoulder / asked to stay the night.” Moth allows the band to test their boundaries, how far they can go between light and dark, while also allowing vocalist Leavey to showcase his vocal abilities.
Penultimate track, Kids Vs. Guns, is another punch to the gut, perhaps the heaviest one yet. Basht. Have always been incredibly vocal in their support of Palestine, completely unafraid to stand on the right side of history, unlike many other artists. Kids Vs. Guns is them continuing to address the genocide of Palestine head-on. The kick of the drum, the slow spiral of the guitars, the devastating lyrics - all of it will sit with you long after the song has ended, long after the album too. It’s a track that is incredibly hard to escape from. “Bottle rockets met with missiles… / it’s children starving on the TV / how many minds are left to change.” The album closes with the title track Poor Advice, addressing the current alcohol and drug problems that are sweeping through Ireland. Basht. create a space for self-reflection with this track, “Look at you now / the party is over / all our friends wrapped up and left.” It’s subtle, but the weight of this final song is heavy “look at you now / birds tell you to go to bed / but you’re flying high instead.” The guitars ebb and flow, building up before slowing down. The band’s aim is that listeners can find hope throughout the album, “the songs might not change the world, but rather allow people to figure out things about themselves.” Poor Advice closes out the album with that flicker of hope “in the darkest hour there’s a flicker of a light /…it’ll get us through the night.”
For a band who are only just getting started, Basht. have come out with a debut that feels bigger than them, in the best way possible. Poor Advice is just the beginning for Basht., and already it carries so much weight and power, which means there will only be bigger and greater things to come from this Dublin band. A potential album of the year? Most definitely.
Words by Angela English
