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Bucket Boys – Twentyfive

Florian Buechting Media Review 2 Comments

Bucket Boys - Twentyfive

Bucket Boys - Twentyfive
3.4

Rating

 3.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very versatile Americana songwriting
  • Good lyrics and songs
  • "Donkey"

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some vocal weakness
  • Some recordings do not reflect the full quality of the song

I enjoy to present German acts as part of my media reviews – and even more if they are successful bands of my hometown region. The Bucket Boys are looking forward to their eleventh album release after 25 years of band history in the Southern Rock / Americana genre. Thus, they are a perfect candidate to be presented on Flyctory.com. Enjoy the review of their album Twentyfive, which will be released on 5th February 2021.

 

Bucket Boys – About The Artists

The Bucket boys are a four man band from Mönchengladbach, East of Düsseldorf, in Germany. They already do music together since 1995. The lineup is Michael Lange (lead vocals, keys), Helge Lange (guitar, vocals), Andreas Kehren (bass, vocals) and Joe Vander (drums). They are very frequently supported by Petra Lange as additional vocalist. They call they style “the sound of desert and sunset”, which is a lovely way to describe their TexMex-Rock / Southern-Rock style. Their first album was Spanish Sun released in 1999. Twentyfive of course relates to the band history / anniversary. The album will be their eleventh major release.

 

Bucket Boys – Twentyfive – Track by Track

The twelve track album lasts 45 minutes.

1. Bitch Girl

Twentyfive has indeed a powerful start: the title is having a strong potential for the Explicit marking on streaming platforms, the guitars are roaring and dominate the opening track. Even a short vocal episode by Petra Lange cannot really change that. Apart from that, the opener is quite epic and the longest song of the album.

2. Hang me high

Apart from the sheer duration, the first two songs have a very similar style: powerful desert / Southern rock with powerful guitar riffs. Hang me high is not as forceful as the opener and also two minutes shorter. The band nicely plays with different atmospheres and the advantage of being able to use multiple

3. Donkey

Hello, my name is Donkey T.
and I’m a dumwise liar

Okay, the Bucket Boys are getting quite political here, I guess 🙂 The short and speedy track (just 90 seconds) with a US presidential focus has a lot of speed and is also the first track which has a touch of country music as well. Time for a smile.

4. Loup-Garou

In case your French is as bad as mine: the title of this song literally means “Werewolf”. The song is quite melodic, almost feels a bit like a blues track.

5. Take my hands

In Take my hands, Petra Lange is having a more dominant vocal part again.

Don’t you feel my heart beating
There’s a silence in my room
Take my hand, so I can feel that
I’m going home today.

I feel the song is a beautiful melody. As in many tracks, I am struggling a bit with the overall arrangement. It feels a bit too much, too full, too many sounds in parallel. Bad luck.

6. Felt this way

This is truly one of my favorites of the album. A happy sounding Americana track, which simply grabs your soul and makes you smile and dance. That’s always a good thing, for sure. Doesn’t it have a touch of a Beach Boys hook?

 

7. Look

Look is a dark blues rock track. One of the most interestingly written tracks of the album, indeed, as the Bucket Boys make use of the long duration of the track and present very different moods. Cool.

8. On the run

On the run? On the run! At least the speedy song is a nice uptempo rush. If you want to dance to this once, be sure you are having quick feet. Party potential!

9. 600 miles

After this quick one, 600 miles is much slower and even somehow melancholic. I feel that the song has some nice potential – but it is just not precisely enough arranged. Really sad – but it might be very different when the band is on stage.

10. Road to perdition

Road to perdition is another track I really loved to listen to during my review. I feel it just gives a nice feeling of Southern Rock / desert atmosphere. A song with a lot of nice rhythm.

11. Corazon

The album comes with some very lovely Southern / Americana elements towards its end. The Corazon thereby almost comes with a Mexican sound. Very well done one.

12. Santa muerte

It is very hard to describe Santa muerte. I would rather describe as “musical storytelling”, even though the multiplied Santa muerte also acts as a chorus. I feel it is absolutely cool to finish with this song and thus also illustrate a very different kind of Bucket Boys song.

 

Bucket Boys – Twentyfive – Spotify

Here is Twentyfive on Spotify:

 

Bucket Boys – Twentyfive – My View

First of all, congrats to 25 years of band history. The anniversary album illustrate why this band – at least on local and regional level – has gained that much popularity during the last quarter of a century. They can perform very different songs, write good stories and work nicely with different sounds and atmopsheres. Unfortunately, sometimes the music, especially on the vocal side, has a too strong amateur touch to me. Even more, I struggle with some arrangements during the recording process. Some songs are not at the full potential. Bad luck – but still an album worth a listen to.

 

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2 thoughts on “Bucket Boys – Twentyfive”

  1. Santos

    Thanks for that review. I’ve seen the band two times on stage in the netherlands. Two great concerts. Today I’ve heard the album – and I love it!

    Reply

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