A Band in Ship – “The Ark”

October 7th, 2019

Released just two months ago, Long Island’s A Band In Ship released an eight-track record “The Ark” that will put you through a musical ringer. As a first time listener, A Band In Ship truly gave me something intriguing and unexpected to listen to: every second when I thought I was able to pin this band down to one specific genre they would completely switch it on me yet somehow still make it sound absolutely fantastic. Though I do make comparisons to different bands and musical stylings, let it be known that this band and this record was probably one of the most difficult to write about without simply saying “just go listen to it and you’ll see what I mean, it’s really fucking cool”. Nevertheless, read on about this absolute awesome find of a band and their wicked release of an album!

When I’m listening to a new record to review, what I love to do is to listen to it from beginning to end as I think it really gives a great profile of the artist, the record, and all-around the intended message of it. A Band In Ship’s “The Ark” is no different and I’m so happy that this was the first thing I listened to that would be my introduction to this band: “The Ark” hits every note of a fantastic album in my book, from infectious riffs to a sense of not being able to know what to expect every second. It’s a journey that I would highly recommend to listen to on long car rides or even as something to put on during weekend house parties.

The record starts off with “The Rabbit & The Fox, Pt. 1” and “Unadorned” which I feel work perfectly together. The two beginning tracks feel like a slow, dip-in-the-water introduction to A Band In Ship with its smooth, jazzy vocals and good-vibe riffs. These two tracks are the dose of chillaxy tunes you need.

Just when you think you’ve sunken into the funky vibes from the first two songs (even with a sense of an ominous, dark riff four minutes into “Unadorned”, you’re still not prepared for the rest of this album, fellow listener), “Lesson Learned” enters the arena with some rock-and-roll undertones and vocals. This song resembles what I imagine to be a stripped-down Every Time I Die track: time changes, punchy vocals with even punchier lyrics, and, of course, a wicked guitar section during the bridge to get people to move and shove somebody.

Just when you think the record will continue on this rock-and-roll train, it goes back to its mellow, Vulfpeck-sounding instrumentals and vocals with “The Rabbit & The Fox, Pt. 2”. Following is “The Mind I”, which whisks you back to a place of funky, hard-rock grooves and undertones, similar to “Lesson Learned” but sounds a little more dark. I get some serious Metallica and System Of A Down elements from “The Mind I”, with its aggressive, gospel vocals and low, vigorous instrumentals.

Next we have “Seize The Day” which even gave me a surprise when listening to this album through and through. Going through this album, I expected them to stick with only the mellow, funky tones and a little hard rock, but then the band decides to upper-cut you with some…dark reggae? The beginning of this track starts off with the recognizable “un-chucks” you would hear in reggae and ska genres, but quickly develops into some wicked, dark rock, and then back to reggae, and then…who the fuck knows! To pigeon-hole this track into a series of genres feels like such an insult simply because of how beautifully complicated it is. This is definitely my favorite song off this record, mostly for how unsuspecting and elaborate it sounds from beginning to end. If I get a chance to see this band live, you bet your ass I’m going to be the one shouting for this one to be played!

Once you’ve recovered from “Seize The Day” we have “The Rabbit & The Fox, Pt. 3” which brings you back to the mellow, funky tunes of the previous parts of this song trilogy. I think another cool thing about this record is that those three songs gives you a sense of grounding and consistency, so when you feel lost at sea (pun fully intended) during their genre bending and twisting in their other songs, this trilogy makes you feel right at home, like reaching a bonfire in Dark Souls before venturing off to hear what’s next.

Lastly, we have “Then What’s The Use”, which immediately gave me old school Gorillaz in the beginning with its more dark, System Of A Down-esque vocals with a dose of their hard rock elements. The six-and-a-half minute track takes you on a trip of whimsical solos and a beat that makes you want to dance and skank the entire night. It’s a perfect ending to this fantastic record and you can definitely tell that these guys get wild with this track when playing it live! Like with their other longer tracks, “Then What’s The Use” feels like a ship that’s going wildly off course but only the captains – the band – truly knows what’s going on.

Of all the amazing things on this album, what I love most about A Band In Ship and “The Ark” is the fact that you can tell that this band gathers a lot of inspiration from different genres and artists but they most certainly don’t fit themselves within a box in their music. The one minute you feel like shoving the person next to you with their bellowing and aggressive riffs, you’re brought back to something more calm and mellow-sounding, and then immediately pushed out into something reggae, into something punchy, into something the band only knows. If you haven’t already, you should immediately check out this band and album you definitely won’t regret it!