Ep: Bad Karma
Band: Gunny Highway
Genre/s: Alternative Rock/ Pop-Punk/ Alternative Metal/ Rock/ Punk
Today’s Ep of the day is ‘Bad Karma’ by Gunny Highway. This band originally formed in Cork, Ireland and fuse Alternative and Classic Rock with Punk and Alternative and Thrash Metal. An offshoot of Gunny Highway is London based Punk band, The Scuts. Some of you may have seen my review of their album, ‘Net Profit’ and a couple of vlogs. If you cast your mind back to my ‘Punk Day’ in April, they featured as part of that. Anyway, this review follows my usual track by track format. Let’s go! ⭐️
Johnny: Razor-sharp guitar stabs kick this ep. There’s elements of Punk here, the poppiness of The Ramones, the bounce of (The)Buzzcocks. This song is pretty rocky too and has an almost Alternative Metal edge to it, without losing the tune. Then there’s the pounding, bass and drum breakdown like the instruments falling down a set of stairs. This is closely followed by mirroring chunky guitar riffs. Then things slow and change takes place, as a slow but short early Black Sabbath style guitar led section slides in. This provides a nice contrast to the main section, riff and vocal hooks. There’s quite a flavour of Punk crossed with Metal crossed with Alternative Rock crossed with Pop; certainly towards the end, this hybrid sound puts me in mind of a point somewhere on a sliding scale between The Undertones, L7 and Metallica. ‘Johnny’ is a great start to the four tunes and on it’s own it becomes infectious and demands repeat listens.
Tommy: As sirens wail a punky guitar helmed onslaught crashes in. The guitars are kept controlled and minimalist in the verses, as this tune becomes very vocal led. To counterpoint and enhance the vocal sections, there’s a more Bluesier-Rock solo in an instrumental break. Plus as ‘Tommy’ evolves, there’s little textures and twinkles of metal guitar. This tune is simple, spiky Poppy and Punky, it really helps to push the ep on.
Lisa: A carefully textured and layered slow down. Still punchy and poppy, like ‘Johnny’, but engineered so all instruments are spaced apart and audible on their own and as a unit; this is owing to great production, some keen eared mixing and the band’s musicianship, plus their ability to harness a tune that is loaded with vocal and musical cues and hooks. The restraint of the guitar and vocals in the verse section, stabbing in and out adds a percussive charm. Gunny Highway then fly into an amped up Pop-Punk chorus, with a sing-a-long aspect, reminiscent of a NOFX or Offspring tune. Smart and frugal guitar licks connect the more vocal passages. Change is everything in this tune as it refuses to stay still. The guitar scoops itself out and pokes back in as the bass leads an instrumental passage. It’s a question and answer type section, which knits the tune together. Then the guitar takes over in a Punk fused with Alternative Rock, fuzzy arpeggio. There’s shades of 90s Punk bands who crossed over into Indie, such as China Drum and elements of classic US Alternative Rock; Sugar and Sebadoh came to mind. Some subtle harmonised vocals slide in, as tension in the instrumentation and vocals build, with a looming release hanging. Then there’s a kick back into a driving vocal and full band drive. Bass and guitar get little flourishes and spaces to shine. There’s little nods and nuances of classic rock and metal through the guitar and bass, the gallop of Iron Maiden, the riffage of Budgie. ‘Lisa’ breaks down as sustaining feedback and bass fills see this tune out.
Frank: Starting with a sombre, Electronica synth-tone, gnarly lead guitar and probing Alternative Metal style Bass click in. The drums have a forbidding kick to them, they help to create a sense of atmosphere. The vocals are at the fore of the mix, much like on ‘Tommy’. The vocals have an almost early Seattle-scene Grunge feel to them, in terms of production and delivery. ‘Frank’ meanders and morphs as once again, there’s that Alternative Metal feel. 90s Alt-Metal bands that crossed into the Indie-Sphere come to mind, Northern Ireland’s Scheer and Therapy? are two acts that are spiritually there. Then there’s a guitar breakdown which has elements of a horror film soundtrack about it. Almost like a rocked out ‘Tubular Bells’ from ‘The Exorcist. This section is nice and unhurried and has a Classic Rock meets Thrash Metal ambience to it. Lots of little quirks and licks from guitar, drum and bass to help drive this home. The track and the ep end almost abruptly with a sonic boom.
Verdict: ‘Bad Karma’ is a rocking infusion of Punk, Metal and Rock. There is a solid, song orientated pop-sensibility blending with more technical, ‘rock-out’ moments, which are used sparingly with expert musicianship. Within these songs are nods to and nuances of Classic Rock, UK Classic Punk, US Pop-Punk, Grunge, Thrash and Alternative Metal plus US Alternative Rock. The songs are like little tales, the ep a dark storybook.
⭐️Listen to ‘Bad Karma’ by Gunny Highway on:
Bandcamp: https://gunnyhighway.bandcamp.com/album/bad-karma
ITunes: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/bad-karma-ep/1423677995
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7fzb0tzPCOIwWYd6mTj4FC?si=hCGc0EvJSwO29uzDlSO8eg
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