The Bastards of Fate
Roanoke, Virginia, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | INDIE
Music
Press
This album is great, until it dives headlong into some kind of fucked-up midway ride with clowns and shit. Sirens, pitched-down robot voices, a song called “Harlequin Fetus” (don’t google that!), some kind of weird cotton-picking work song, creepy alien lullabies… this whole thing is going to give me nightmares. Thanks. - VICE
This album is great, until it dives headlong into some kind of fucked-up midway ride with clowns and shit. Sirens, pitched-down robot voices, a song called “Harlequin Fetus” (don’t google that!), some kind of weird cotton-picking work song, creepy alien lullabies… this whole thing is going to give me nightmares. Thanks. - VICE
The Bastards of Fate possess gifts so otherworldly that Shakespeare’s witches should tremble and shake in their presence... This kind of confidence is rare in contemporary music, especially for a band who are about to release their first album. - Clash Music
The Bastards of Fate possess gifts so otherworldly that Shakespeare’s witches should tremble and shake in their presence... This kind of confidence is rare in contemporary music, especially for a band who are about to release their first album. - Clash Music
With a debut album as strong as their live shows, The Bastards of Fate are poised to leave behind their sleepy little mountain town. They have managed to create not only an original album, but one that still retains a sense of the familiar. It’s askew enough to warrant a listen, but not alienating, revealing more of itself upon repeat listens. And if that isn’t a perfect reason to check out an album, I don’t know what is. - Consequence of Sound
With a debut album as strong as their live shows, The Bastards of Fate are poised to leave behind their sleepy little mountain town. They have managed to create not only an original album, but one that still retains a sense of the familiar. It’s askew enough to warrant a listen, but not alienating, revealing more of itself upon repeat listens. And if that isn’t a perfect reason to check out an album, I don’t know what is. - Consequence of Sound
Triangulated between the structure-fuckery of Skeletons, the manic Americana of Beefheart and the psych-pop of Ariel Pink are The Bastards of Fate, who throw the kitchen sink (and all the other fittings in the house) at every song on their 2012 album Who's a Fuzzy Buddy?. If you get off on being surprised, this is for you - it's impossible to sit comfortably for more than about 30 seconds as they batter your brain with wave after wave of ideas and sounds: this album comes weaving, charging, tumbling out of the speakers. - Drowned in Sound
Triangulated between the structure-fuckery of Skeletons, the manic Americana of Beefheart and the psych-pop of Ariel Pink are The Bastards of Fate, who throw the kitchen sink (and all the other fittings in the house) at every song on their 2012 album Who's a Fuzzy Buddy?. If you get off on being surprised, this is for you - it's impossible to sit comfortably for more than about 30 seconds as they batter your brain with wave after wave of ideas and sounds: this album comes weaving, charging, tumbling out of the speakers. - Drowned in Sound
Discography
Who's A Fuzzy Buddy? LP released 2012 by This Will Be Our Summer Records
Photos
Bio
The year was 2006. Doug Cheatwood—grocer by day, innkeep by night, musician perpetual—assembled his dream team. Benjamin Pugh as rhythm guitarist extraordinaire. Camellia Delk on synthesizer and heart strings. Jason Wellz as sinister bass-smith. Tying the package together: the wild rhythms of Doug Shelor’s pin-point percussion. A quintet of such skill seemed unstoppable, and yet Fate conspired against the Bastards from their inception. Their shows would end in mechanical catastrophe. Their wild antics would get them banned from popular venues. Their practice space burned to cinders, destroying their equipment.
And yet tragedy did not stop or slow The Bastards; if anything, it informed their unique musical sensibility. And now, at the end of their Road of Trials, we find their debut album. Who’s a Fuzzy Buddy? represents The Bastards of Fate at the top of their game, twelve tracks of catchy melodies, shrieking vocals, sonic weirdness. One cannot describe their sound accurately as all comparison fails; they have created a New Sound that is not of this generation of music, nor perhaps even of this plane of existence. You can listen to the album now, or you can listen to its influence in the future.
Band Members
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