Band : Broken Bottles

Album title : Hospital

Label : TKO Records

Distributor : Sonic Rendezvous

Release date : 22/01/2008 (USA) – April 2008 Europe.

Release : CD

For the history of this Orange County based Californian Punk Rock act, we needs to turn back the clock to the year of 1994...which is when drummer Dre w Rowlett , guitarist Ace , and singer/ guitarist Jes the Mess (also known as Messy ) met as teenagers and formed their first band The Dogs .

Following The Dogs ' demise in 1998, they reformed with Jes ' brother and long-time fan Travis on bass and soon exploded onto the scene in 2000. Darren Sullivan filled in on second guitar in 2001, and just about the same time a certain DJ at a local radio station gets ahold of the band's first single Gothic Chicks . Playing it almost continous on his independent radio show in LA, he started a buzz around the band which would see the boys play more and more clubs in the area. Meanwhile, the guys were already working up the material for their first ever EP Not Pretty , issued in 2002.

Soon after, Jes grew to notoriety when he came on prime time TV in one of Am eric a's favourite "reality" shows ( The Osbournes , where he was Kelly 's boyfriend for a while). Not surprisingly things got noted by Orange County based Punk label TKO Records , who offered the band a deal to release their now classic full-length debut In The Bottles . Following tons of press and positive reviews, the band returned to their original line-up with the return of Ace , after which the band took to the stages again, sharing podia with such acts as Cell Block 5 , D.I. , Duane Peters And The Hunns , GoBettyGo , Kill Radio , Manic Hispanic , Smut Peddlers , The Briefs , The Bronx , The Dwarves , The Epoxies , The Explosion , The Real McKenzie's , The Skulls , The Starvations , The Weirdos , U.S. Bombs , and more...

As with most media-hyped bands, things go silent somewhat around the band (or at least so it seemed to us, over in Europe), even though they dó release a new 7-inch single with 2006's Suburban Dre ams (again on TKO ). Meanwhile, the guys have not benefited from the original hype in getting a "better" deal with a major label...or the deal with TKO was simply too "good" not to hang on with the label, becaus eher's the sophomore album for all of us to enjoy. With an Am eric an release date in January, it's only now that the album is released in Europe...which happens to coincide with the band's upcoming European tour...or at least, German tour...set to start on the 15th of May.

According to the band itself (words repeated in the TKO bio of the band), "... Broken Bottles captures an early '80s Orange County Punk feel, almost as if Agent Orange gave their guitars to T.S.O.L. The dark driving sound of Messy 's guitar drives together with Ace 's solid rhythm, as Travis lays down the bass lines blending with Dre w 's pounding drums...". As you will hear from the tracks posted at myspace.com/brokenbottlesoc, Jes has a very specific, somewhat whiny voice, which gives the band...at least in my eyes...a British flavouring which is not without appeal. In fact, it's those vocals in hte first place which, loose from all the sub-divisions withing the Punk Rock genre...sets the band apart in a floaded market...gives the band its extra merit points when it comes to deserving a chance to survive as a band! I won't go as far as making this a must-buy for myself personally, but I suggest Oldschool Punk Rock addicts definitely should consider doin' so!

90/100

Tony.