Underwater Pyramids Album Review

When I tried listening to the new Badd Energy album the first time I had to stop it and walk away. There was something about it that just put me off and I couldn’t listen to it. I thought that was odd, because I’ve seen them live before and enjoyed their sound, so I’d expected to like the album.

I came back to it though, and I’m glad I did, because I ended up liking it more on my second listen. There’s definitely something catchy about their lo-fi, rough and raw, punk-ish tunes, it can just take a little work to get past that roughness, and not everyone’s going to have the patience to do that.

The second half of the “album” (at around 20 minutes long, it’s more like an EP, but still manages to cram in 9 songs) is better than the first, where some of the songs sound unfinished, and the raps are a little less polished.

Even after a few listens, I’m not sure whether I’m a fan of the album as a whole. Some songs, like Ba-Zing and Bridges to Burn, I really enjoyed. But other songs, like The Conference, I wasn’t so impressed with (although at 1.45 long, I didn’t have to listen to it for long).

I’d still go and see Badd Energy live, because they put on a damn good show and the music works a lot better for me in a live setting, but if you’re a fan of the band, or you’re into cheap drum beats, rough sounding raps and punk attitude, then Underwater Pyramids might just be worth 20 minutes of your time.