It’s been a while since Ten Foot Pole released their previous album Insider. Three years as a matter of fact. Most certainly the passing away of bass player Leigh Lawson, who hid a heart condition from the world, had a lot to do with that. After that happened Ten Foot Pole weren’t sure whether to continue or quit playing. They obviously decided to continue and now they’ve released a new album called Bad Mother Trucker.

TFP have seen a lot of different line ups over the years, among the more famous members former vocalist Scott (now baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Socks and vocalist for Pulley). Hopefully they’ll be able to keep it all together this time around.

After their successful three record deal with Epitaph, Ten Foot Pole have now signed with Victory Records. A remarkable move since Victory is known for their hardcore releases and has signed big names such as Hatebreed and Warzone. They’ve also signed Voodoo Glow Skulls and seem to be putting out more than just hardcore lately.

Bad Mother Trucker is without question a Ten Foot Pole album.

It’s got that typical Ten Foot Pole sound yet it does differ from their other releases. This one sounds more balanced. Bad Mother Trucker still has the tight drums and the many guitar licks combined with Dennis’ vocals we all know from Unleashed and Insider. The band themselves sum things up as ‘Bad Mother Trucker epitomizes the Ten Foot Pole sound, with intelligent, aggressive punk rock that is sharply written without being nihilistic’.

Sven would agree with them on that, the album combines a bunch of sing-a-long songs like ‘Wannabe Alone’ and ‘One Hero’ with more aggressive punk rock songs like ‘Plastic’ and ‘Shelter’. The lyrics have got a message to them and though they might be somewhat dark every now and then, they’ve always got something positive in them as well.

Sven has to conclude that this new Ten Foot Pole release is an improvement compared to Unleashed and Insider. Although it’s hard to compare Bad Mother Trucker with Rev Sven still favours Rev as the best Ten Foot Pole album.