Album review: The Bollweevils – “Essential”

Red Scare Industries – 05 May 2023

A comeback album worth the long wait.

There are some that will want to burn me for heresy for saying this, but I don’t care. Essential is the best Bollweevils LP. As a matter of fact, it goes a long way toward atoning for the sonic sins of the band’s past. I enjoy Stick Your Neck Out! (1994) and Heavyweight (1995) as much as the next guy, but they had their issues. Like most of the small label punk releases of the ‘90s, they were quick, cheap and sloppy. Essential sounds great, and maybe more importantly, it takes the time to capture great performances. 

The Bollweevils formed in the fertile Chicago punk scene of the early ‘90s, and released a ton of stuff between ‘92 and ‘97. After splitting for a few years to get their careers rolling, they picked up again in the early 2000s. The quartet eventually released the Attack Scene EP in 2014. The last 10 years or so they’ve been fairly active, with both festival appearances and local shows. After years of anticipation, Essential is finally here to invade our unprepared earholes. 

Opener “Predisposition” is an intellectual ripper. The acoustic guitar at the beginning of “Galt’s Gulch” might make you worry for a couple of seconds, but then it kicks into high gear. “Disrespected Peggy Sue” slightly reimagines “Unrespected Peggy Sue” from the 1993 Ripple EP. The intense “Honesty” originally appeared on the previously mentioned Attack Scene as “Honesty Isn’t So Simple”. A serious song about self harm, “The Cutting Solution”, wraps up side A. 

Side B opener “Theme” is a truncated title for “The Bollweevils Theme Song”, which also first appeared on Attack Scene. It’s a fun but silly little ditty. “Bottomless Pit” was the opening track on Stick Your Neck Out. Check out the Essential version to appreciate the sonic upgrade I mentioned earlier. “Our Glass” is followed by the most “punk” song on the album, “Resistance”. 

One of the coolest things about Essential is that it doesn’t wallow in nostalgia. It feels fresh, even if it contains some familiar songs. Closer “Liniment and Tonic” was the preview single, and a song that the band had been playing live for at least a couple years. It’s the only song that really acknowledges the time that has passed. It’s a song about the aches and pains that go along with being a still engaged but aging punk. 

The cover art was clearly inspired by the pandemic, and would suggest that we’re all essential. After this strange period of extreme division, maybe a new Bollweevils record is one of the few things that we can all agree on. The biggest fault I can find with Essential is that it’s too short. It’s a minor complaint, but at 10 songs in 23 minutes, it could have used two or three more new tracks. 

For vinyl fiends: I don’t have it on vinyl yet, and there’s not much insight on the Red Scare website. It appears to be only available in black, and the quantity is unknown.