In a way, Bottle Next sounds like what I would imagine an acoustic Alice In Chains set would sound like, which obviously is a compliment. The groovy riffs sound quite well on that electro-acoustic guitar and the vocals are great. Opener 'Break Down The Door' immediately showcases that riff-based rock music that would continue throughout most of the album, reminding me of stuff like Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age and so on.
'Running Herd' somehow reminds me of The Lemonheads while an acoustic version of Rage Against The Machine comes to mind in 'Revolution'. The song contains raps and riffs ànd is called 'Revolution', what a coincidence. Other bands that often come to mind include Nirvana, Spin Doctors, Monkey3, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, Jefferson Airplane, Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash... Yep, there is plenty of variation to be found on 'Bad Horses'.
Bottle Next seems to know no limits. From flashes of trip) hop in 'Age Of Beauty' to sheer punk rock in the title track 'Bad Horses' to industrial and heavy metal, they incorporate everything they like into their own music, something I can only applaud. I mean, play some of these songs with distorted guitars and you will see hordes of metalheads bang their heads to 'Machines' or 'More Humane'.
In all, this is an excellent album, one that fits perfectly in today's (stoner) rock scene, even with a somewhat deviant sound. I know stoner rockers will appreciate these riffs while folk fans will go wild on that acoustic guitar. Metalheads will find it hard to suppress the urge to bang their heads and people who like to dance will also find some groovy tunes. I can only recommend this album to all you rockers out there. It's different but great.
Serge