Thumper Punk Records continues their 3 song acoustic series, this time with the Bezerkers’ Brock Diamond adding his interpretation of acoustic tracks that somehow includes an electric guitar.
Those familiar with the Orange County punk scene may have come across Brock Diamond in one of bands over the years, which include Simplex, Fear God, Evasive Action and currently the Bezerkers. For those wondering how this 3 song acoustic series got its start, it was Brock singing “Baby You’re Mine” on social media that sparked the idea. The ep was recorded mixed and mastered by Jason Diaz at Safe House Studios in Torrence, California with Sef Idle of Simpul Studio handling the post production mastering.
So when an “acoustic” album opens up with electric guitar, one can’t help but wonder, but for the purists out there the clean guitar is simply present at different times to lend a bit of uniqueness to the track. As is often the case with acoustic albums, the focus is primarily on the vocals and Brock with backing by Kat Ferguson has a good voice for the style, slightly gritty and yet somehow very clean as well. In some ways you have to take “Baby You’re Mine and Birds of a Feather” together as there is a good fit between the songs in setting up an informal atmosphere where the listener feels as if they are actually in the same room as the performers. Within “Birds of a Feather”, I can’t help but hear some guitar parts that sound very reminiscent of “About a Girl” from Nirvana. Brock goes in a bit of different direction on “Fly Away” where it starts out similar to the other tracks but concludes with Brock’s daughter Gracie providing some guest vocals in what must have been a special moment for the father-daughter. Performances are heartfelt, production is clean, mixing is spot on for what one would want in an acoustic ep where it’s about the performers and their stories in the songs.
Rating: 7/10
Written by John Jackson
Track listing:
1. Baby You’re Mine
2. Birds of a Feather
3. Fly Away
Band Members:
Brock Diamond – vocals, instruments
Kat Ferguson – vocals
Kent Z – electric guitar
Record Label: Thumper Punk Records, March 2017