ALBUM REVIEW: The Atomic Bitchwax - "Force Field"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 08/12/2017

Label: Tee Pee Records

"Force Field" is an album that punches you in the face from the moment is starts, and keeps up its unrelenting force until the album’s grand finale. The songs are short, they’re fast, and each one hits its chorus within 30 seconds. There are no frills, no bullshit, just straight up rock n’roll with attitude.

“Force Field” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Hippie Speedball
02. Earth Shaker (Which Doobie U Be)
03. Alaskan Thunder Fuck
04. Shocker
05. Crazy
06. Fried Dyed And Layin To The Side
07. Shell of a Man
08. Houndstooth
09. Tits and Bones
10. Humble Brag
11. Super Highway
12. Liv A Little

The Review:

When The Atomic Bitchwax got their start in the 90’s, they offered up the flip side of the coin to the West Coast’s Fu Manchu. Like the Fu, The Atomic Bitchwax also had punk roots, dirty guitars, hard drumming and a link to rock royalty. What sets these bands apart is mostly the themes in the lyrics. Fu Manchu sings about babes and cars, The Atomic Bitchwax spits lyrics about drugs and flying through space. Sure, this is a pretty blunt summation of both bands, but the bottom line is, The Atomic Bitchwax appeals to the space-punkers. Their music is for those who want their Monster Magnet faster and their Fu Manchu more psychedelic. The Atomic Bitchwax fills that void perfectly.

In layman’s terms, The Atomic Bitchwax is a stoner rock band. But as Monster Magnet continues their way back to their psychedelic beginnings and Fu Manchu gets heavier, The Atomic Bitchwax once again fills the void between these two and does so by dropping the “stoner” tag. The word “rock” is what remains, and that’s just what we need in these times of pigeonholing bands into genres that are so specific that there’s no fun left in the music.

On December 8, The Atomic Bitchwax are going to drop a belter of an album. It goes by the name “Force Field” and its one helluva rock album. It’s one that punches you in the face from the moment is starts, and keeps up its unrelenting force until the album’s grand finale. The songs are short, they’re fast, and each one hits its chorus within 30 seconds. There are no frills, no bullshit, just straight up rock n’roll with attitude.

Opener “Hippie Speedball” is a quick two-and-a-half minute glimpse of what the band is here to do; rock. Follow-up “Earth Shaker” does the same, and the increasing speed and intensity in the third song “Alaskan Thunder Fuck” nails down the band’s mission statement. The cuts are teeming with vocal harmonies, polished beyond belief but no less sharp and mean. And when Pantella pounds on his drums, you can hear him grinning with satisfaction. Kosnik and Finn are also grinning, no doubt about that, and this adds to the album’s presentation. The band is smug, they know they’re kicking ass and they know their licks are second nature. This is rock n' roll.

“Force Field” confirms the direction The Atomic Bitchwax took on 2015’s “Gravitron.” On “Force Field,” the New Jersey three-piece don’t do much more than open the flood gates and barrage the listener with hard-ass riffing and tight-ass rhythms. This happened in 2015 and it’s happening again now. Therefore, the simple conclusion is, if you dug “Gravitron,” you’ll love “Force Field.”

“Force Field” is available here

Band info: facebook