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Blues In Britain magazine (November 2007)
Brock
and the Badgers - Tales From The Riverbank
BATB5
There's ripples a ripplin' on the bank of the Thames down at Windsor as Brock and the Badgers release their latest CD as a three piece. The band is Mark Bond, guitars and vocals, Jess Lidyard, drums and Bert Bond, bass.
There are ten Bond-penned songs on the CD and it kicks off with a great rocker 'Ace in the Hole' with a catchy chorus. It then swings along into track two - 'Come on Down', a song with a religious bent and a nicely distorted guitar solo. All songs on this album seem to reflect on life past present and future. The beat slows down for 'Set the Sails for the Sun' looking to the future with a new love. Drums and bass hold the beat rock solid throughout.
Brock and the Badgers have been honing these songs for sometime now in front of audiences in the pubs and clubs around Windsor. Mark's gruff vocals contain traces of John Fogerty at times.
'I Wasn't There' is a very haunting song and contains a screaming guitar solo. The haunting sound and feel appears again on 'It's Alright Tonight'. 'The Fire' and 'The Runner' come across as thoughtful and well written songs, sung with passion. 'Let Me Down (Real Slow)' concludes the album in fine style with a song about one of life's characters living on the edge.
In summary, a great album to listen to all the way through and I'm sure those ripples will be making waves soon.
Rating 9
Paul Stiles
Blues In Britain magazine (Feb 06)
Brock
and the Badgers - Yeh’ lo
BATB3
This is the third album from Brock et al consisting of nine tracks, with most of them in the 5-6 minute range.
The CD opens in cracking
style with “Janus” with some spooky
sounding keyboards, wah-wah guitar and threatening vocals. This is one of
the band’s six originals on this album the other three are well chosen
covers to suit and complement their style.
The tempo is increased for the second track, catchily entitled, “Star
Spangled On The Rhine”, although I wonder whether the chorus will grate
in time. “In Your Time” rocks along with influences from all
through the ‘70’s. Again keyboards and guitar work well together,
giving a full sound.
The band is Mark Bond (guitar & vocals), Bert Bond (bass), Jeremy Neal (keyboards), and Jess Lidyard (drums).
Next up are the bands interpretation of three well known classic Blues songs: Rory Gallagher’s “Messin’ With The `Kid”, “We’ve Gotta Get Outta This Place” – much requested on Hospital Radio! and B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone”. All well executed with just that added Badger favour!
“Feel the Fire” is the band’s
slower tempo ballad number (or at least as close as this band comes to
one) this time featuring flute
and guitar solo.
The title track takes us out in fine rockin’ style. “Yeh’lo” is
again a band composition. This one’s about getting a telephone call
whilst on holiday abroad, to find out if you can make the gig on Tuesday!
All in all a bristling
performance from this foursome and is definitely one to be tunnelling it’s
way into your CD collection. Game, Sett, Match.
Rating 9
Paul Stiles
oxfordblues.info
Blues In Britain
magazine (Oct 04)
....This CD (Still Paw) has 8 great tracks but The Badgers have a penchant for extended versions so the CD runs to just under the hour. Three tracks are Badger originals and the last track on the CD Badger Boogie, does just that, boogies for 12 mins, a great one to listen to in the car. Willie Dixon's (and made famous by Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones) "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" gets this album of to a cracking start with Badger 1's powerful and soulful vocals to the fore. There's some nice collaboration between keyboards and guitar.
As my friend Roy says, the world can never have too many versions of Hendrix's "Red House", the Badgers give it a good working over and produce a nice medium tempo version and do it proud.
The first "Bagers" composition is track 4 "Without Your Love" and is a very moody slow blues, running to 8 minutes. Some gentle brush-work on the drums helps this one along. You'll want a nice long Gin & tonic to hand!
'Desmondo' pounds those keyboards in the opening to "Baby Please Come Home"
Other covers include Mike and Brian Hugg's "Mr. You're A Better Man Than I" and Stan Webb's "Lost The Best friend I ever Had"
Chicago's 25 or 6 to 4 gets an airing on this CD, a very
interesting opening arrangement and then clever use of the keyboards to
cover the brass parts.
Try
this sitting comfortably crossed legged on the floor!
If you like you life and music in good ol' solid Black & White than you won't go wrong with this one, it certainly won't be in hibernation in my CD collection
Paul Stiles
Badger's Chronicle, December 2003 issue
This band just may be the most exciting blues-rock prospect to come out of Britain since the 'sixties. They play with an extraordinary passion and have a truly remarkable ability to make their music utterly irresistible. The driving rhythm section of Messrs. Bond (jnr.) and Lidyard is well-complemented by some seriously haunting melodies from Neal and some awesome guitar-work from Bond (snr.). The ethos of the band (if their website is anything to go by) is not dissimilar to Gerry Anderson's "Thunderbirds" - each of the band is known primarily by his numeric code! Clearly the band has a great sense of humour and likes to play with tongue firmly in cheek. But just listen to some of their sounds; their careful selection of covers material has ensured that they play a wide range of great (but not particularly well-known) songs from upto fifty years ago, as well as some original stuff which highlights the collective eclecticism of the band's big range in ages (from 17yrs to well over the half-century).
If you like hard driving blues where the guitar work is redolent of Hendrix and early Clapton, and you like to get your feet tapping and your soul dancing - get to a Badgers' gig in a pub while you still can. This band is surely destined for something special. As relevant now as they would have been had they been playing in the 'sixties.[(A couple of them were, actually! Ed.)].
Go see them - you won't be disappointed!
Warwick Hunt
FROM “BLUES IN BRITAIN” DECEMBER 2002 ISSUE.
The Cambridge, Camberley 23/10/02
If you put an ex-punk lead guitarist, his teenage son on bass, a former new romantic keyboard player and a drummer from the Tubeway Army together in an old style R&B band you get Brock and The Badgers. Mark Bond, guitar and vocals, is a very passionate performer who steers his band through a varied selection of Yardbirds songs, Little Walter classics and a very fine soulful version of Peter Green’s “Looking For Somebody”. I particularly enjoyed “Mister, You’re a Better Man than I”, I believe by the Yardbirds; rarely performed, its biting lyric seems even more relevant today. They finished with a medley of songs about going places, mostly home, including at a furious pace “Show Me The Way To Go Home”. Weird!
The Brocks are still a relatively new or re-formed band but this fine venue was packed and the reception tremendous. I go and see many bands and it was refreshing to hear different material. They are not slick and they are not polished, but they do mean business”.