7 Seconds Bad Luck

Distortion.  Reverb.  Hard edged guitar and driving base.  Deep vocals.  Interesting.  Real meaning.  Despite the fact that these words mean nothing as they were initially read by the reader, they actually mean quite a bit.  7 Seconds Bad Luck.  What does that mean you might ask, that's the name of the band that I penned all of those "meaningless" words at the beginning.

"7 Seconds Bad Luck" hails from the State of Florida and according to their Reverbnation page their brand of music is:  "A little hard rock mixed with a little metal, with a swig of Southern Rock"  If that isn't one doozy of a witches brew of music styles and that actually had me trying to think about what it was that I might actually hear.

Sure the definition could be broken down into manageable bands for reference but I thought to myself that it would be a huge disservice to the music if I entered the labyrinth of their music.  I could have created this concoction of bands like .38 Special, Tesla and the Allman Brothers but that would have surely slid the mass between my ears I call a brain into certain shutdown.  Instead of harming the little brain I have left I dove headlong into the music and I listened to the sixteen available songs. The brand of music that they have created really didn't feel like their description, instead they provided me with music that was surprising and really, really good.

I do agree with some parts of their description (or for those of us still trapped in the evil business world, their "Mission Statement") I think that they might want to re-write the description (curious to what now aren't you).  Their music definitely does not lack for depth or talent, what I really liked was the complexity of the music, it really sticks with me.  Inasmuch as that is true, it's not pretentious nor is it so watered down that it sounds like a bland version of Skynyrd.

Their music does have a metal feel to it and a few of their songs really had what I would call the "metal edge" (songs in particular are "Whatcha-want" and "Ax To Grind") but all of the songs had some commonality.  When people talk about "Metal" there is this preconceived notion that the music will be filled with screaming and brash guitars but there really is none of that here.  7 Seconds mixes the "metal edge" with distortion and reverb while actually mixing in touches of some interesting '80's hard rock. 

Interestingly several bands flashed in my mind while listening to their music (I really should see someone about that), and those were:  "The Cult", "Ministry", "Circus of Power" and "The Cramps"  I haven't lost my mind, I really think that this band feels like the amalgamation of the bands I mentioned. 

There are far worse bands to be compared to than "The Cult", their brand of music was fresh, with a hard edge and can still be heard on Alternative stations.  The vocals of 7 Seconds reminds me of the vocals of "The Cult" and just like "The Cult", this band has an attitude about their music.

The next band that I think personifies 7 Seconds would be "Ministry", and their gravelly vocals, reverb and oh so much distortion!  The songs "Sucks So Bad" and "Justify" had the feel of a Ministry song, they're masterful. In fact, "Ministry" was the first band I compared 7 Seconds to, they epitomize the same logic, and sense of music style and "Ministry" is one of my all-time favorite bands.

I can hear you now, "Okay crazy man, where do you get off comparing 7 Seconds to 'The Cramps'?"  The comparison is so easy (and its of the highest praise).  As soon as I heard "Something" it felt like a Cramps song.  The vocals, the lyrics and the attitude of the song just blared "Cramps" (okay that sounded worse than I intended).

The fourth band I mentioned was a band called "Circus of Power" (I so hope I'm not the only one that remembers this band).  "Circus of Power" was a New York City band and they actually opened for many, many great bands (Black Sabbath for instance).  Interestingly the lead singer from "The Cult" (Ian Astbury) did additional vocals on a 1993 release of "Circus of Power", "But", you may ask "what does that have to do with 7 Seconds"?  Of all of the bands I have mentioned I really think that the music of 7 Seconds Bad Luck lyrically, vocally and musically sounds like "CoP".

Enough of the music history lesson (there will be a quiz later so I hope you paid attention) I have no doubt that 7 Seconds Bad Luck will be as big as any of the other bands I mentioned.  Of the sixteen songs I wouldn't say that a single one of them was anything other than great!  The band, "7 Seconds Bad Luck" has their brand of music and they are good at it (not good, GREAT), I only wish I would be able to get to one of their shows.  For those of you that might be in the Florida area, there isn't any reason you can't make a show (and for all of my readers, buy their CD will you please).

"A little hard rock mixed with a little metal with a swig of Southern rock" or whatever you would like to call their brand of music is but one thing IS true; its great, and they're great.  Bravo my friends!