Korean Fire Drill – More Bad Ass than Half Ass (Less Bad Ass than Half Ass) a review by Twitch!
First, this Korean Fire Drill record is a formulaic comedy rock album in the vein of Green Jelly or Scatterbrain. Just wanted to set the expectation there.
Korean Fire Drill’s new CD, “More Bad Ass than Half Ass” opens with a “skit”. Track 2 starts off the music with an ode to Kanye West and as this CD progresses there are more covers, ranging from straight up rock (Heart’s Barracuda) to hip hop (2 Pac’s California Love…my favorite track on this CD) to a band that seems to have been the model for Korean Fire Drill: The Bloodhound Gang (The Bad Touch). Even though this album vacillates between genres the musicianship is solid, the production quality is good but the album just doesn’t parlay as a recorded CD.
More Bad Ass than Half Ass tells the tale of the band hiring new vocalist Lydia Gavin and then firing her, only to be forced to rehire her. There are 10 “skits” and they aren’t my cup of tea, especially as the “Cheese Factor” was a level 10 on a few of them. These skits seem to be a primary feature of this recording and that’s too bad because Korean Fire Drill clearly has more to offer.
Lydia’s vocals definitely drive this CD and the production quality is top shelf from guitar tone to drums. I just wish that KFD would save the covers for their live show (which I’d love to see as I have a theory that live, this band is fun as hell) and record more original tracks like Bitch Box, Live Like Us, or SpidaRackNeeAH.
At the end of the day, there’s clearly talent here but skipping the skits and a few of the covers to get to the actual tracks that I enjoyed became tedious. More Badass Than Half Ass seems to lack cohesion and is burdened by all the covers. This CD leaves me with the feeling that Comedy Rock is not even close to becoming a thing, much less a genre. Sadly, KFD’s sophomore album is Less Bad Ass than Half Ass!
