Member Since: 09/07/2006
Band Website: http://www.oldgold.org, http://gulcher.gemm.com/
Band Members: Rob Parham Jeff Patch Ben Lawless Ben Young
Influences: Captain Lou Albano, Millie Jackson, Mulla Nazruddin, Ray Dennis Steckler, Rip Torn, Tim Hardin, Witt Mills, Lance Ranger
Sounds Like: ‘BLACK HONEY’ CD REVIEWS
Great low-fi soul-soaked rock ‘n’ roll that reminds me a hell of a lot of SYD BARRETT – especially his solo stuff…it’s got that calm wildness about it with fantastic roving song writing and raw production – there’s even a slight touch of PAUL WESTERBERG laid-back unruliness about it and the whole thing is delivered in a in post-punk mind-set…yep, this is a Gulcher release alright!! My wife’s Portuguese and some years ago I was introduced to Madeiran black honey and the black honey cake…and it’s no joke…the dark, suffocating depths are awesome and breath-taking (literally) and I really feel that that’s been reflected in this record…what a title…yes, in typical Gulcher style, the BON VIVANTS push limits with exciting experimentation and with massive success.
- NO FRONT TEETH (LONDON)
Years ago, Punk and indie rock came from a shared point of origin in the form of The Modern Lovers. Its repetitions and prickly touches inspired angry, young heads such as the Sex Pistols while Jonathan Richmans disenchantment and embrace of melody as a form of counter-culture to the dominant psychedelic and progressive modes of the early to mid 1970's could be said to have informed indie rock as practiced by bands like the Shins etc. Bon Vivants represent both these tendencies that they share with Modern Lovers.
"Reappearances" contains all the elements of conventional song played through Bon Vivants fuzzy approach. Every note trailed by the light haze, every clap and sung note echoes like it was recorded in a toilet. Those vocals sounding somewhere between Dave Thomas from Pere Ubu if the drugs worked and Lou Barlow circa Bakesale. This heavily pop sensibility is rarely varied from as "Suffering Bastard" attests; a heavy, noisy intro implies something different but it settles into the sort of punchy, indie rock number that makes up much of the record.
Despite the largely economical approach to song, the best moments are the more expansive. A or M operates along more elongated lines; working cycles and repetitions that are caked in psychedelic haze, stretching out over eight minutes.
Bon Vivants are highly competent purveyors of a kind of lo-fi garage pop. 7/10
- Foxy Digitalis Alex Kakafikas (29 October, 2008)
first full-length (after a debut EP in 2006) from Atlanta's Bon Vivants...this is scrappy, upbeat, tuneful garage rock that might have come from any time since 1967...the Bon Vivants are especially indebted to the Velvet Underground's third album (from 1969) for their unadorned rhythm guitar chunka-chunk and unflashy but propulsive drumming...no, they' don't approach the awesomeness of the Velvets, or the Modern Lovers, or the Lovin' Spoonful for that matter—but they're doggone charming and catchy, their harmony vocals and tambourine are just peachy, and mainstream radio will surely shun them for being so blithely homespun...(B+)
- WZRD chicago
Also rotating on:
WMBR
WUNH
WZBC
CKXU
WNYU
WREK
WPVM
WNYU (No. 14, 9/15/08)
and Rumble on Radio FRO, 105.0 MHZ, Linz, Austria.
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Reviews of the "Soul Action" 10-inch on Old Gold Records:
"Atlanta's Old Gold label made its rep with oddball underground releases of a distinctly warped nature. So it's surprising to hear the debut by Bon Vivants, a non-ironic hammer of lo-fi garage punk. Led by Old Gold's own Ben Young, the quartet sound almost like Billy Synth's old backing group The Turn Ups in their ability to do a fairly poppy thing in such a way that it sounds as good as drinking alcoholic mud. From looks to sonics to material, this could be a lost gem from anywhere in the last 30 years. and if you enjoy the basics raunch epistemology, well sidle right up."
- Byron Coley, The Wire , Nov. 2006
"OK. Heres the fantasy: this is the band that Pete Townsend would have formed had Entwistle and Moon really gone and formed Led Zeppelin with Jimmy Page. Menacing power chords, a dull, hungover buzz, pedestrian rhythm section. Somewhere along the line, Pete would have hooked up with Alex Chilton, and youd have something like this: eight brooding, sugar shit sharp power pop with an edge of rage that is timeless. ... read review ... The glee/anger is rivaled today only by Black Lips, who are in their own class. But I dare you to listen to this and not at least once think that they are the best band in the world right now. check out the ragged glory that is the Bells or Basketbakers and tell me Im lying. Their press sheet says that the lyrics are inspired by Surrealist poets, especially Eluard and Char. Fuck that. Surrealism was for upper class geeks who wanted to standardize Dada, and not even Breton could touch Rocket From The Tombs. A Classic is waiting for you."
- Mike Wood, Foxy Digitalis , 10/10 ......
"Garage torchbearers ... read review ... Ben Young's vocals, cagey and faraway, oversee the proceedings with an offhand cool. While the record starts off at a somewhat measured pace, Side Two features more lively cuts. "Pink Sangria" burns off its punk jitters in a mere minute and five seconds, while "The Mall Song" shimmies with delinquent energy. At either speed, this band is one worth watching."
- Amanda Langston
www.keenlyobserved.com ......
"falls somewhere between the Replacements, Husker Du and Big Star."
- Chad Radford , (Creative Loafing).......
"Although definitely post-punk in form and attitude ... read review .. the outsider improv mindset has once again embraced something that's even more basic to American cultural consciousness: R&R. No irony either. Hey man, these guys are for real, and not even slightly full of shit. How many rock bands in 2006 can pull that off?"
- Eddie flowers, Slippytown ......
"simple pop song, low fi, Raspberries, yes great stuff, noisey"
- KZSU review of "Highway", the Bon Vivants track on the OGX 10th anniversary double album.......
The BON VIVANTS 10-inch SOUL ACTION on OLD GOLD is rotated on WRAS, WREK, WFMU, and WNYU (no. 25, week of June 16, 2006), and WCBN ......
Record Label: Old Gold / Gulcher
Type of Label: Indie