4 out of 5

Label: Expert Work Records

Produced by: Shane Hochstetler

Bald Eagle’s best and (as of now) last album, just as the band was figuring it out.

Starting from their debut, it was clear that Missouri’s BE had the chops and energy to break out in some fashion, but in what direction that might be was… not as clear. Centered around punk, the foursome’s ‘Bacon And Eggs, Dear‘ record spiraled out far and wide from that genre, effective at whatever the group wanted to try on also preventing the establishment of a clear identity or m.o. Which fit with the snarky song titles and punk ‘tude, but allowed for a lingering “imagine what would could happen…?” question that was answered by the more focused ‘Hot Shoulders‘ – an album that more directly embraced the genre experimentation but also underlined the silly factor. This made it hard to parse how “seriously” to take some of the music’s emotions, though it also all rocked hard enough to not really matter.

Clean Living’s austere title and artwork kind of signaled something. This was also the first record on BE’s bassist / vocalist Justin Nardy’s “Expert Work” label, which would also reissue Bacon and Eggs, and furthermore kick off an awesome project of digging up and rereleasing other Midwest rock acts’ lesser-heard materials. So that signal was the end of something, and the start of something, and you can sense that in the music’s maturity. While Shoulders’ experimentations were not not mature, it synced with a general playfulness. This still exists on Clean Living, however, the group has dedicated themselves to the almighty power of rock: Bald Eagle is now, first and foremost, a rock band, and steps off into hardcore or boogie – yeah, some of this stuff is pretty danceable – but always returns to a riff. And that dedication gives the band a defined sound. This also makes the payoff of those off-steps more effective, because they can be used as purposeful juxtapositions: see closer ‘The Breakfast Bar’s unplugged pluckings feeling sincere, and acting as a memorable ending to an otherwise totes rollicking affair.

A puzzle that still doesn’t quite fit are the vocals. Since there are vague dreams of punk and hardcore in the mix, occasionally someone shows up to shout, but it seems like the group understood the trajectory of things – the vocals are pretty infrequent, and are way low in the mix, almost marking this as an instrumental disc.

Should this prove to be BE’s last release, it’s a great one; it’s one that makes the lead-ins that much more fun and memorable, as you can hear the steps it took to get to Clean Living. And advice to anyone starting a label: make your first release as good as this one.