Baby And The Nobodies’ Latest LP Proves Worth Hearing At Least Once

By: Philip Sayblack

​Independent rock act Baby and the Nobodies released late last month, its latest album, Ready or Not.  Clocking in at just over half an hour (32 minutes to be exact), this 8-song record is just the band’s third full-length studio recording.  It is worth hearing at least once, as is shown through its musical and lyrical content.  ‘Kings and Queens,’ the third of the album’s entries, is just one of the songs that serves to make that clear.  ‘Here I Am,’ which comes in the album’s second half, is another example of the ability of the record’s content to make it worth hearing.  ‘Nothing For Me,’ the album’s second track, does much the same.  Each song noted does its own share to make the record worth hearing.  When they are considered alongside the album’s other tracks (which focus primarily on the all too familiar topic of relationships) the whole makes the record in general worth hearing at least once.
Ready or Not, the latest album from Baby and the Nothings, is an interesting new offering from the band that its established audiences and newer audiences alike will find worth hearing.  That is proven through its musical and lyrical content, as is shown in part through one of its early entries, ‘Kings and Queens.’  The song’s musical arrangement is an immediately infectious work what with its DIY garage punk style presentation.  The power chords and the steady, simple time keeping pair with the bass line and the vocals to make the whole at times comparable to works from Dropkick Murphys and at others to works from the likes of The Ramones.  That whole is the epitome of the old adage that less is more.
The lyrical content featured alongside the album’s musical arrangement adds to its interest.  As with so many punk songs, this one’s theme is a familiar anti-establishment protest.  This is made clear as vocalist Rebecca Terry sings, “Got no love for the human race/Got no time for saving grace/You can’t politicize what I’m thinking now/Everybody’s choosing sides/Losing friends over all the lies/You can’t believe what I’m hearing now/Kings and queens make beggars of us all/The government-owned media must fall.”  This is all sung in very controlled fashion, but the message is as fiery as it is in so many punk acts’ works.  Terry continues her scathing socio-political commentary as she sings in the song’s second verse, “Ain’t no one gonna change the world/By repeating everything you heard/I can’t believe how divisive we’ve become/Take the writing off the page/Twist it around/Define your rage/Until the world has finally come undone/Kings and queens make beggars of us all/The government-owned media must fall.”  Again, this is a sharp indictment of everything going on.  People on both sides continue to just parrot everything they hear and read instead of thinking for themselves, only making the hyper partisanship in this country all the worse, and unless something changes it is only going to get worse until…well…the world comes undone.  Keeping that in mind, the song’s statement is clear and simple.  When combined with the song’s simple, infectious musical arrangement, the whole therein makes ‘Kings and Queens’ a clear example of what this record has to offer.
‘Here I Am,’ one of the album’s later entries, is another of the album’s more notable offerings.  In the case of this song, the band continues to offer something of a punk vibe, only this time, tempers it with something more of a Chrissy Hynde edge.  The pairing is unique but still manages to somehow work.  The edge that the arrangement proves infectious in its own right. 
The energy in the song’s musical arrangement pairs well with the composition’s lyrical theme, which comes across as being a commentary about certain celebrities and their egos.  That is just this critic’s interpretation.  This is inferred as Terry sings in a seemingly sarcastic tone, “You see me on the street/Take a picture/’Cause it won’t last/I won’t be around that long/You’ll see/Watch me acting out/In the movie/On your television/Play the part/Like I wrote the part for me/Here I am/Everybody wants me/Here I am/Everybody wishes they were me.”  That chorus seems to point not only at celebrity ego but people’s obsession with celebrity.  The rest seems to sort of make fun of the celebrities who act out in public, making so many negative headlines with their bad behavior.  Again, this is all this critic’s own interpretation.  The seeming commentary continues as Terry sings, “See my name in lights/Billboards and posterized/A diva on the cover of a magazine/Take yourself away/Follow me/Don’t follow me/The creator and the vision of your dreams/Here I am/Everybody wants me/Here I am/Everybody wants to be me/Here I am/Everybody loves me/Here I am/Everybody wishes they were me.”  This seems as clear as ever to be a commentary about celebrities and their egos.  These are people who are completely caught up in themselves once they become famous.  They are the celebrities that are proof that more often than not, people should not want to meet their heroes and favorite celebrities.  If in fact this is what the band was trying to convey with this content, then message received and well done in so doing.  When the seeming theme is considered along with the infectious groove of the song’s arrangement, the whole therein makes the song in whole another example of why this record is worth hearing at least once.
‘Nothing For Me,’ the album’s second entry, is yet one more example of what Ready or Not has to offer audiences.  In the case of this song, the arrangement is far less punk than the other songs examined here.  Rather in the case of this song, there is more of a Joan Jett and the Black Hearts comparison that can be made while also blending in a touch of 80s hair metal influence.  The whole is its own infectious work that stands on its own merits.
As in the case of ‘Here I Am,’ the song’s musical arrangement pairs well with its lyrical theme, which in this case, leaves room for interpretation.  This as terry sings, “Always like a come and go/I read it in a magazine/Falling like a burning torch/Living like an undertaker/Like a falling star/Lost in your tunnel vision/No room for a heart/I’ve got something that I wanna say/There’s nothing you can do for me.”  That chorus seems like an accent on the statement and points to perhaps someone being upset at another because that other person is not making time (or has not made time) for another, and that anger has reached a point, because “there’s nothing you can do for me.”  The seeming tale of a relationship issue continues here in the song’s second verse, which states, “Feels like your time is coming/Tighten up the noose/Like a freight train rollin’/This time you’re gonna lose/Loose lipped tourniquet/Treat you like a star-crossed lover/I’ve got no regrets.”  Having no regrets means seemingly being done with that other person, this because it “feels like your time is coming.”  Again, this is just this critic’s own interpretation.  If in fact that is the case, then the message here is definitely one that will relate easily to audiences; this despite the reality that it is just one more f so many songs on the album that focus on that one overarching theme.  When this song and the others examined here are considered along with the rest of the album, the whole makes Ready or Not a presentation that is at least a welcome addition to this year’s field of new independent albums.
Ready or Not, the latest album from baby and the Nobodies, is a work that the band’s established audiences and newer listeners alike will find is worth hearing at least once.  This is proven through its musical and lyrical content.  The songs examined here make that clear.  When they are considered along with the album’s other songs, the whole therein make the album in whole a welcome addition to this year’s field of new independent albums.
Ready or Not is available along with all of Baby and the Nobodies’ latest news at:
Website: https://babyandthenobodies.com
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Twitter: https://BabyandNobodies