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| Don't Punch the Driver |
The title Don't Punch the Driver comes from the name of an older incarnation of the band (long story short): a version of the band without the drummer Sam Donner. If you're interested in the story behind that name, it's better told in the 'about' section on the Bet the Levels Facebook page.
Once you get your free download of Don't Punch the Driver and queue it in your favorite media player's now playing list, you will find the excessively used Nostalgia Critic reference contained in the six second intro of the album. The audio clip is taken from a Bet the Levels live performance and, you guessed right, the Mason that Dan is referring to is none other than me. Of course, in response, my sister and I are shouting at the top of our lungs, "FUCK YEAH! SPARKLE! SPARKLE! SPARKLE!!!"
Moving on, the album as a whole is about what you would expect it to be. It sounds similar to their live performances except now the vocals aren't drowned out. Hi-fi guitars, basic punk drum beats, and lyrics that range from not knowing what to do with your life, to hating the town you live in, to coming-to-terms with your placement in an alternative high school.
If you like 90s punk, you owe it to yourself to at least check out "GE Days," "Going Insane," or "What Really Matters." as I found myself liking these recordings the most (well, my favorite is "I am Error" but I seem to stand alone with that choice). Some songs that really sound great live don't quite come to life on the album such as "So Sad" or "Pledge of Allegiance." However, I think that I'll always think of Bet the Levels as a live band in the first place.
For a self-produced album (I think), Don't Punch the Driver sounds particularly good. I think this is a great album to demo to people as the audio quality is relatively good and the mixing is pretty solid. The only critique I have on the mixing is that the bass guitar is too soft. Then again, the bass guitar is also pretty quiet when they play live so perhaps a bass-reduced sound is the kind of sound the band is going for in the first place.
Overall, this album is really worth checking out for yourself. It's free so you have no reason not to. I've been really enjoying this debut release of Bet the Levels quite a lot. In all seriousness, I have lost count of the number of times that I have listened to this album already. The running time of the album is only about 30 minutes long so it's kind of easy to listen to the whole album twice in a row without really realizing it.
Check it out! You won't regret it!
Download it on Mediafire
If you like 90s punk, you owe it to yourself to at least check out "GE Days," "Going Insane," or "What Really Matters." as I found myself liking these recordings the most (well, my favorite is "I am Error" but I seem to stand alone with that choice). Some songs that really sound great live don't quite come to life on the album such as "So Sad" or "Pledge of Allegiance." However, I think that I'll always think of Bet the Levels as a live band in the first place.
For a self-produced album (I think), Don't Punch the Driver sounds particularly good. I think this is a great album to demo to people as the audio quality is relatively good and the mixing is pretty solid. The only critique I have on the mixing is that the bass guitar is too soft. Then again, the bass guitar is also pretty quiet when they play live so perhaps a bass-reduced sound is the kind of sound the band is going for in the first place.
Overall, this album is really worth checking out for yourself. It's free so you have no reason not to. I've been really enjoying this debut release of Bet the Levels quite a lot. In all seriousness, I have lost count of the number of times that I have listened to this album already. The running time of the album is only about 30 minutes long so it's kind of easy to listen to the whole album twice in a row without really realizing it.
Check it out! You won't regret it!
Download it on Mediafire
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