OneMetal.com REVIEW:
Gentlemen of Distorted Sound – Bone Idol EP

Gentlemen of Distorted Sound claim to play groove-laden hard rock, and for once a band’s self-description provides a fairly accurate summary of the bands output. The five songs on this EP all have a reasonable groove and could be described as rock of the hard variety. They’ve got an amusing mascot in the form of a skull with a native American head dress who is also sports a monocle and cigarette holder; and provided you don’t try and take the band too seriously, this is a pleasant and varied listening experience.

The band can all play, which is always an encouraging start. There’s a solid rhythm section which locks down an effortless groove and keeps things chugging along nicely, a smattering of guitar heroics, and Gareth Nugent’s vocals offer a decent blues howl with plenty of power in the upper registers. They’re tight but not mechanical and the whole thing has a Black Sabbath-style swing to it which keeps the classic rock vibe going throughout.

Gentlemen of Distorted Sound basically sound like a better than average pub band playing the heavy, blues-oriented rock music. They’ve adulterated their seventies schtick with a few grunge references and the odd moment that sounds suspiciously like the Arctic Monkeys, but the heart of the band is the kind of biker friendly classic rock that ought to go down very well when they play the Bulldog Bash in August. They generally keep things pretty simple and that’s usually a recipe for success, especially at the start of a career.

Sadly, for all its strengths, the Bone Idol EP just doesn’t do it for me. My response to the perfectly competent rock stylings is to shrug and go and listen to something else. Good music should make me either want to dance, punch things or have sex with things, and Gentlemen of Distorted Sound mostly make me want to get caught up my paperwork. That’s not ideal for a rock band. The songs haven’t stuck with me either, I’ve tended to completely forget them once the EP is over. Its a shame because objectively I can’t find anything wrong with them but, for me anyway, Gentlemen of Distorted Sound manage to be less than the sum of their parts.

They do have a very shiny Myspace though.

Bottom Line

A well executed slice of groove-laden hard rock that never quite manages to live up to the promise of its musicianship.