Crannk Reviews Commissioner Bourbon "No Beer / No Dad" Album -

Commissioner Bourbon – No Beer / No Dad Album Review by Mike the Punk

Commissioner Bourbon is a 3 piece punk band brewed in Footscray, Victoria, Australia and they have played a bunch of shows since hitting the scene around 2015, from the little shows at a local venue on the weekend to massive 2-day festival shows like Melt Ya Face Fest and most recently live stream music festivals Iso-Nation and Global Bandemic.
Commissioner Bourbon has played shows with local Victorian bands like As A Rival, Brodown, I Have A Goat, Monkey Butler, Rathead, Stoned To Death and The Kat O Army, as well as some great interstate bands like Alex The Kid, Flangipanis, The Arturos and The Decline.
The band’s discography includes “The Demo(n)s” a 3 track demo recording released on the 17th of March 2017, the 5 track debut EP “Punching Darts Breaking Hearts” released on the 13th of October 2017 and in the lead up to this album they released a single “Indianapolis Bones And The Crusade For The Last Dart” on the 22nd of September 2019, which I reviewed for Crannk last year, here’s the link https://crannk.com/crannk-reviews-commissioner-bourbon-indianapolis-bones-and-the-crusade-for-the-last-dart/

The band released their debut album ‘No Beer / No Dad‘ on the 28th of March 2020. Its 8 tracks long and lasts about 24 minutes. It was produced by Daniel Antix at Def Wolf Studios.
The opening track is called ‘The Adventures of Johnny Green‘ and with a runtime just shy of a minute and a half you might not be expecting much but this song is well polished. The bass enters over some sampled speech, the entry of the vocals feels just right and the ambient, melodic start turns to something more energetic with almost a bouncy feel. Lyrically its a story song and my favourite line is “Cause he had to spend 10 bucks for our shitty show”
The next song “Rat Racist” (2:26) is full of great guitar and bass parts, plenty of energy and even some hardcore elements, lyrically it’s dark but genius. I’ve been listening to track 3 “Indianapolis Jones And The Crusade For The Last Dart” since last year and still really enjoy it.
“PoP” (1:40) is another shorter song, the intro is a great bass line under a shroud of feedback. The guitar parts in the verse feel like an addition to the soundscape as the bass drives this song. The chorus parts have some well-executed stop/start moments. “Chasing Amy” (3:19) is so good, I really like the vocal flow of the whole song. The band is all in with hectic strumming of distorted power chords and harmonics. The break up between the verse and chorus parts is ska flavoured and yes after a cool guitar solo part we do get to hear horns which are epic.

“The Kids Need Continuity” (3:48) has a guitar intro that packs a punch, as the verse starts it quietens down and a solid bass and beat section holds the groove. The breakdown part has a great moving guitar part behind some sound samples. “Friends” (3:00) starts with vocals and guitar, its a solid song with some reflective vibes and a positive message.
The final song “4000 Miles” (2:53) starts as a ska style track with some nice clean crisp guitar playing well timed upstrokes. It does return to a distorted guitar playing a progression of power chords and the horns are amazing.