By Eleni P. Austin
“I’m feeling young, I’m feeling new, one fire dies another burns/Was down, not out, You’ll learn what we’re about when we take on the fucking world.” That’s Bridger, throwing down the musical gauntlet, on “Young And New.” With that song and their first record, they are redefining the paradigm of Desert Rock.
By now, most everyone knows the genesis of Desert Rock, (if not, check out Joerg Steineck’s cogent documentary, Lo-Sound Desert). Back in the early ‘80s, young bands with no place to play made the most of this desolate environment. By dragging generators into the middle of the desert and plugging in.
Channeling the D.I.Y. ethos and energy of Punk and mixing in the torpid sludge of Heavy Metal, they succeeded in creating a whole new sound. Aside from a couple of notable exceptions, Erica Huskey, (and later Robin Clewell) from Dali’s Llama and Elvira Corral from Polyphemus, Desert Rock has been primarily a Boys Club. That’s about to change.
Jim and Katie Cathcart have been a part of the Desert music scene since puberty hit. The siblings began playing their instruments, guitar and drums, respectively, before learning their ABCs. At the turn of the 21st century, still in their teens, they joined forces with bassist Laramie Hancock, and formed JeKKel.
The Power-Punk trio quickly made a name for themselves, gigging around the desert and even playing L.A. venues like the Whisky and the Knitting Factory. They released a clutch of albums, and managed to continue even as life and higher education shifted their priorities. But all good things come to an end. After more than 10 years together, JeKKel had run its course. It was time to begin a new chapter.
Declaring their independence on July 4, 2013, Jim and Katie, (re-christened KT Zapcart, following her marriage to her partner, Casey Zaparinuk), began jamming with a couple of old pals, guitarist Jacob Miller and bassist Dan Wheat, (a.k.a. Dan Dillinger). The name Bridger comes from a book Jim was reading, “Trappers From The Old West.” Inspired by the frontiersman Jim Bridger, the new moniker also signified bridging their past and present musical endeavors.
The four-piece immediately began playing around the desert and throughout Southern California. They have headlined shows and opened for bands like the Koffin Kats and Dead Kennedys.
Woodshedding in a makeshift studio, they honed in on a sound that synthesized their myriad influences, from Black Sabbath and Fear to Led Zeppelin and NoFx. They headed into Seahorse Sound Studios in L.A. in 2015. The result is Bridger’s full-length debut, Forces Against Us.
The album opens with the triple attack of “Because Pat Said So,” “Beaver” and “Pass The Hatchet.” “Because…” is a squally instrumental overture. It feels like the musical equivalent of an imprisoned Superhero breaking free from an asylum. Blistering guitars, drums and bass careen out of the speakers at warp speed, forming an impenetrable flying wedge.
Without pausing for a breath, the band lurches into “Beaver.” A sonic maelstrom, it’s powered by Zapcart’s triple-time tattoo, thundering bass lines, and scorching twin guitars that skitter and howl. It’s nearly a full minute before Jim’s vocals appear, sketching out a Penthouse Forum scenario featuring a comely hitch-hiker. “100 miles of pretty pink skyway, getting some and getting somewhere fast/My favorite movies start the same way, with a girl out on the road.”
“Pass The Hatchet” manages to ratchet up the tension, relying on waspish guitar riffs, whip-crack percussion and search-and-destroy bass fills. Suddenly the whole juggernaut shudders to a halt, only to slowly accelerate like a roller-coaster clanking to the top of a summit before the real thrills ensue. Guitars gather speed like a swarm of killer bees.
Jim’s sepulchral vocals echo James Hetfield’s authoritative growl as he insists his sleep-scape is more rewarding than his waking hours. “I’m a failure in life, but a champion in sleep/When I turn off the lights, I’m a Viking in dreams.”
The album’s best tracks wed take-no-prisoner melodies and instrumentation to smart, self-aware lyrics. On the aforementioned “Young And New,” doomy power chords are supplanted by splintery riffs, rubbery bass lines and a blitzkrieg backbeat. The lyrics offer a shaggy mission statement for the band; “I found a sound that mirrors my might, 2,000 Lbs. of Rock And Roll/The earth will shake now that the beast’s awake, we’re all compelled to lose control.”
Volcanic drums and molten riffs anchor “Brewery On Fire.” But the lyrics offer amusing non-sequiturs that reference the Tom Hanks movie, “Big” as well as the ‘50s Doo-Wop group, Little Anthony And The Imperials.
“Cortex” is a musical Molotov cocktail. Zapcart’s jackhammer beat collides with hopscotch bass and strafing guitars. Time signatures shift, powering down, then accelerate with agility. The lyrics offer a mental-health check, “It’s a prison in here, four walls, my mind.”
Finally, “Real Deal” is just that. Ferocious drums pummel like a battering ram. Stinging guitars are tensile and concise, and coiled bass-lines are so taut you could bounce a quarter off them. The lyrics seem to offer a cryptic account of Bridger’s rise from JeKKel’s ashes, as the band wonders “Oh can I be Lazarus?” Jacob’s kinetic solo offers guitar-virtuoso pyrotechnics.
Zapcart seizes the spotlight on “Pills And Thrills.” The savagery of her vocals is matched by her destructo drumming and the guitars’ rapid fire riff-age.
The bitter denunciation of “See You Next Tuesday” is offset by ricochet rhythms, boomerang bass and guitar riffs that detonate like smart bombs. It’s the perfect intersection of Punk power and Speed Metal.
Other interesting tracks include the seasick emotional see-saw of “Parasite,” the sandblasted sludge of “Melter” and the dusty instrumental respite, “Orion Skyward.” Meanwhile, “Death To Snowbirds” offers musical catharsis to any local who has been trapped behind the wheel, as a confused and elderly seasonal population navigates the relative simplicity of Highway 111.
The album closer is a gentle, Celtic-tinged soother that recalls Enya’s breakthrough song “Orinoco Flow.” Umm just kidding, the final track on Forces Against Us bears the unambiguous title “You Asshole.”
Lyrics, melody and instrumentation are equally pithy. The song juxtaposes skull-crusher rhythms, bottom-heavy bass, blistering guitars and Jim’s succinct verbal assault; a satisfying finish from a deft debut.
This band doesn’t seem interested in half-measures. The music they create is balls- and ovaries-to-the-wall intense. Forces Against Us provides a much needed jolt of Girl Power to a testosterone-centric environment. Bridger is adding a new chapter to the on-going saga of Desert Rock.
