Bitter Grounds - Two Sides Of Hope

Ring Of Fire Records / Bad Granola Records / Aggrobeat / Mass Productions

 

Two years after their impressive debut LP “Hollowlands”, the Dutch ska-punks of Bitter Grounds are back for more! With the release of sophomore album “Two Sides Of Hope”, the band - featuring ex-members of Beans (I-Scream Records) and Last To Go - unleashes another dose of highly contagious tracks - this time at 45 revolutions per minute!

 

Obviously it says something about the track list and total running time when an album, pressed on 12” vinyl, fits while it spins around at 45RPM. Both are relatively short in their own department – 9 songs and around 23 minutes of playtime – but sometimes that is all it takes to reach perfection. That’s right, because where “Hollowlands” was impressive, “Two Sides Of Hope” is just one of those albums I literally can’t stop listening to!

 

Because of the track list / running time ratio, the songs – with the exception of two or three peaks – are short, follow each other up in a rapid pace, provide a sublime mix of punk rock, streetpunk and ska influences and pack an incredible amount of energy – making you want to flip this record over and over again! Delivering great melodies and an even greater interaction between the dual lead-vocals of guitarists Ronald and Dinter, songs such as “Lost”, “Two Sides (Of Hope)”, “Let Me See Now”, “Bad Dreams”, “My Time”... hell, I could just name ‘em all – are extremely catchy, addictive and are basically just one earwurm after another. Love it!

 

So if you are a fan of Rancid, One Man Army, Noi!se or Left Alone – but preferably a combination of two or three of these bands – you should definitely take note. Chances are you’ll be highly into Bitter Grounds as well!