Brantford, Ontario-based alternative rock band Bad Reed has been criss-crossing Canada on tour since the release of its debut EP, Punch It, last year. Sydney Sollazzo (vocals, keyboards), Graham Walker (guitars), Austin Sharpe (bass), and Costa Chatzis (percussion) formed Bad Reed together after the demise of the previous acts they’d been a part of. The foursome is passionate about continuing to create music and perform live. Punch It was produced by George Rondina and Bernardo Francisco and recorded, mixed, and mastered by Francisco. The EP is available as a free digital download and also as a physical CD at the band’s BandCamp site.
The 3-track EP is short and to the point, packing in a lot of emotion and blues-infused rock sonics. A new video for the title track “Punch It” was recently released that alternates footage of the band performing live with frontwoman Sollazzo singing in front of a blazing fire in the wilderness. Gleaming reverb guitar lines slowly wind through the song as keyboard notes buzz in the background. A measured beat accompanies Sollazzo’s expressive vocals as she steps carefully through her words, drawing out and turning up the ends of her phrases as she sings “For now we see / through a glass darkly.” A higher-pitched keyboard note stings as the guitars, drums, and percussion rise like a crackling bonfire, building up with dramatic effect.
Next number “Slackjaw Romance” is a calmer, yet still captivating lull of picked acoustic guitar, reflective whistling, and lovely cooing “Ooh”s from Sollazzo. She sings in a wistfully sweet tone against a blues-steeped guitar line that “All I need is love and affection…” before turning tart and sing-talking “Everybody ‘round here knows me / or at least they think they do / Sometimes it makes me lonely…”. Sollazzo is backed by plaintive vocals from Chatzis and surrounded by guitar strum, a shadowy bass line, and mid-tempo drum pace.
The bass line undertow, softly glowing keyboard notes, and quicksilver kinetic drum tempos of EP-ender “Cassava” bring a soulful, rhythmic groove to the crunchy and electrifying guitar lines that sporadically swell. Sollazzo exclaims in a foreboding tone about “Desperate ruins of what I used to be / …This city lies broken and damned.” All is not lost, however, as midway through the tune its mood briefly lightens with Sollazzo’s vocals drifting over subdued keyboard notes and an unobtrusive drum beat. But then lightning storm guitar jags suddenly strike and the sonics all mix into a sweeping turmoil as Sollazzo proclaims above the fray “Come away… and venture with me.”