On November 13, 2020 "Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons" released their second solo album "We're the Bastards".
Remember how much fun it was when Dad took you to work?
So the children of guitarist Phil Campbell must have felt that way when they released the second studio album of their joint family project - "We're the Bastards", which sounds really good.
For those who don't know (and if you follow our page and website you surely know), Phil Campbell was the guitarist of "Motörhead" from 1984 to 2015.
After the death of Lemmy and the disbandment of "Motörhead", Phil found himself out of work. In 2016 he entered the studio with the percussionist Chris Fehn, who is known as number 3 in "Slipknot" to concoct a solo album. Although this album was released in 2019 and included collaborations with Alice Cooper, Rob Halford, Dee Snider, and more. The more interesting thing happened precisely while working on that solo album. It started as Phil spending quality time with his three children and quickly turned into a serious project that led to the band "Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons".
Phil recruited his children Todd on guitar and harmonica, Dane on drums, and Tyla on bass. They included the singer and rhythm guitarist of the Welsh band "Attack! Attack!" as their vocalist, and started working on original material.
(Photo: Ultimate Classic Rock)
In 2016, the band released their first EP named "Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons", and started warming up bands like "Guns N' Roses", "Hawkwind", "Saxon", and "Airbourne". The group gained momentum and what started as a side project designed to pass the time turned into something serious and permanent, when the band released its debut album "The Age Of Absurdity" in 2018.
With the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis and because the band could not perform, they decided to build themselves a private studio. They spent the first quarantine period building it and at the beginning of the summer began writing and recording their second album "We're the Bastards". This time, the songwriting was more evenly shared between the band members, developing a mix of fresh contemporary influences brought by the kids, with the classic hard rock brought by the adult in charge.
The theme song "We're the Bastards" opens the album powerfully and sets the tone for what comes next. "Son Of A Gun" led by Phil's daughter's ferocious bass even ups the ante and shows that this band has a lot to give. And there are some "Zeppelin" influences in "Desert Song", southern rock with "Born To Roam", dirty punk in the song "Destroyed" and even a nice ballad "Waves" that ends the album.
For Listening: Spotify