Bash Myself EP

Let me give you some background info on Tomás Ford, Lost style.

I’d just turned 18, Fear of Comedy had just broken up, as were most other bands, WA Decay was released a few months prior and I was finally released into the world of pub gigs. As an underage child, I was restricted to the shows at Leederville HQ and whatever overage gigs I could beg the promoter to work the door at; hence my level of band awareness was fairly low; I’d take what I could get. I always wanted to see bands that drew influence upon the bands that I listened to and who I regarded as the greats. I had no problem finding a general sound that I could identify with, but a visual show left me searching. Being a fan of the infamous GG Allin, I wanted someone who interacted with the crowd, whose shows were different every time, which wasn’t afraid to be known and out there.

I originally went to a Tomás Ford show with my buddy Alex. Now remembering that Alex thinks that Bad Brains and The Germs are the cat’s pyjamas, I was expecting an 80s hardcore band to get fucked up to in the pit. That night at the Hydey, I got Tomás. I didn’t really know what to think of him. I thought he was entertaining, somewhat comedic, but in an intelligent, and thought provoking way. The second time I saw him was the maker or breaker for this guy in my mind. I still hadn’t made my mind up either way whether he was worth my time or not. Tomás put on a similar show, but this time, I started to understand the idea behind his shows; the genre-bending, scene-warping, mind fucking fun.

I continued to attend Tomás’s shows on occasion, taking different friends along for the ride each time. Late last year, I got to be a part of Tomás Ford’s controlled riot (which you can read about on here). It was here that I found out that there’s actually a science to what Tomás does. It’s not haphazard, it’s definitely not ad-libbed and he doesn’t jump all over just anyone (some people don’t like that.) Watching Tomás play night in night out for little or no money makes him one of two musicians that I respect in this one-horse town.

Now to the Bash Myself EP
The EP starts off with a wash of digital noise moving into Bash Myself which was written about the comedown after a show. The track points out the downsides of the entertainment industry, including the abuse the performers take to play “my cartilage is dying from the jumping every night” and the constant self-reflection that is needed to continually to play audience-stopping shows. Next up is Get used to it which features the talents of Emcee Able, a crooner track for Tomás followed by a rap verse by Emcee Able. God I hate 95% of rap music, but luckily there’s only one verse before Tomás’s crooning is back. The Bash Myself remix surprised me in its outcome. It’s the dancier version of Bash Myself which quite surprisingly, even my Dad liked! So much for the usual “Call that music? Turn that racket down!” spiel which I normally get. I rather like the female vocals on the track; they wash down well with the dance beats. Loudspeeka remix comes in after. The remix goes down better with the punters better than the original because of its newfound disco-dance beat. After seeing the Voltaire Twins live, I can really hear their sound on this track. Plus, as an added bonus, Tomás pulls out different moves for the remix in his live show. Ironically, the rap-come-breakdown that Tomás pulls in this song is actually good (see I do like 5% of rap!) Finally comes in the remix of Letters of Complaint remix. With a different backing track and distorted vocals, it definitely works better to freak the listener out “Why don’t you kill yourself and all your children” and could now quite happily feature in its very own eerie horror film. If an electro EP can be featured in a punk zine and cause this writer to happily give up her night to go and check out this guy, he’s definitely worth it!