Lost Treasure: Animal Bag

Animal Bag – [Download The Album Here!]

Animal Bag is what I consider one of the greatest band that nobody ever heard. Based out of Charlotte, NC Animal Bag was the “tree that fell in the forest” as far as I’m concerned. After seeing the video for their song “Everybody” on Headbanger’s Ball a whopping one time, I felt compelled to go out and buy their 1992 self-titled debut album. The only problem is that nobody had it in stock and literally looked at me as if I had just made these guys up in my mind. Getting a copy of this album became a holy grail expedition of sorts as I went from store to store with no luck finding this album. All I had to go on was the song title and the band’s unforgettable name. I finally managed to find a copy at Wuxtry Records in Athens, GA of all places and upon popping it into my car CD player, I immediately knew that I had found something special.

In a time where Alternative music was wearing the crown and heavy metal was sent to gallows, Animal Bag was exciting and refreshing. The bands visual image was something to behold in itself. Imagine if Slayer were Deadheads and hung out in the lots of Dead shows selling grilled cheese. That was them. The sound of this band was something I had never heard and have yet to hear to this day. Animal Bag was a band that obviously came from many influences yet were not afraid to represent them all. While they are obviously a heavy metal band, they also drew from bands like The Grateful Dead, Red Hot Chili Peppers and at times were reminiscent of peer bands such as Ugly Kid Joe and Saigon Kick.

Animal Bag possessed a confidence in their sound and there are no signs of compromise in what what they did on this debut. The band opens up with the riff heavy “Darker Days” with lush 3 part harmonies that would make Jellyfish proud only to go into the mellow acoustic driven “Hello Cosmos” which has a dreamy, floaty groove. Animal Bag shows their true versatility on “Cheerful Mary In The Rain” with it’s complex arrangement of tempo changes and lyrics that are psychedelically beautiful and full of vivid imagery.  Animal touches more on their hippie/mellow roots with songs like “City Song” and “Oddball” and then turn it around with intense metal songs like “Hate Street” and “Personal Demons.”

Animal Bag covers all the many faces of their influences yet instead of it sounding like a big ass mess it manages to be a cohesive body of work with a flow that is like a musical white water rafting trip.  The waters are at times still and give you a chance to take in the lush scenery but before you know it, the waters grow with intensity and unless you hold on and focus, you will be tossed around and out.  This is truly a remarkable album that everyone should have in their collection.

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