I hate this band name. Any movie/band/song named anything “Blanking Blank” just gets on my nerves. With a moniker like BLEEDING KANSAS, I was expecting total emo overload, but the results turned out to be not so bad.

I would love to tell you about individual tracks on this release, but that is impossible. The way this CD is formatted, every track is about 20 seconds long. So there are 99 tracks printed on the disc, but only 14 tracks listed on the jacket. I don’t know when the songs begin or end, so I will do my best to offer a critique. Way to go, Abacus marketing team! I hope someone was fired. Anyway, what we have here is some solid metal/hardcore with an eye to the hipsters. The vocals are a bunch of screamin’ and hollerin’, but the guitar irreverence on here keeps things interesting. Think of a combo of hipster darlings BOTCH, SHELLAC, and CABLE, and you’ll be in the ballpark.

In terms of weak moments, BLEEDING KANSAS has more than their share. Track 28 contains a brief divergence into “Carry On My Wayward Son,” an obvious and forced nod to their legendary namesake. The whole affair does go on for far too long. The vocals will have you worn out by disc’s end.

Musically, you could do a lot worse than BLEEDING KANSAS, but you probably won’t be able to find a more dopey band name.

- Broadbent

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/bleedingkansas

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