BISON BONE
The Lost Weekend EP Dan England
BandWagon Magazine
Bison Bone’s frontman, Courtney Whitehead, writes the band’s latest - The Lost Weekend EP from the perspective of a character who “is tired from all the things we are all tired from,” and honestly, the music sounds like it. Though soft-spoken leading male vocals can work, Whitehead sings with a voice that resembles someone who’s either hungover or just woke up from a nap. The music sounds like what you’d find on
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Bruce Springsteen’s rejected demo tapes - which, for hardcore fans, could be gems, though here, the songs lack the kind of catchy choruses which might win over new listeners. “What I’ve Found” is the band’s best on this EP, but it also makes the other tracks feel empty by comparison. In the past, Whitehead has proven capable of wielding songwriting talent, so one wonders why he couldn’t find that spark for the other three tracks. The EP’s closer, “Wasting Time,” is so lethargic that Whitehead may have even used it to put himself to sleep before he recorded these tracks. On other Bison Bone recordings, Whitehead’s voice is a strength, but on this EP, it feels as if he’s experimenting with too much vibe or character - a low, monotone crackle that would cause nightmares for those running sound systems at his gigs. Without more power and
energy, he threatens to drag his talented cast, and his own potential, down to the depths of The Lost Weekend EP ’s tuneless vocal delivery. We know Bison Bone is capable of better, so the next
time Whitehead wants to sing and write from the perspective of a tired character, he should just sleep it off. The Lost Weekend EP is out November 19. For more, visit bisonbone.com
