Beau Basement and The Razorblades Cemetery of the No Name Besides only knowing Beau Basement in Youngstown as the guy who gave the outrageous interview in the Pulse, the guy who pulled a knife at Cedars once, and the guy who is generally rather loud and boisterous when he ties one on at a local watering hole, he’s also bided his time in recent years drumming in First In Space and Turbo Lovers. All the while he’s also done a ton of recording and “Cemetery of the No Name” is a compilation of everything he’s done over the past 10 or so years. I think it may have been The Infidels’ Pete Drivere who called him the “punk rock Bob Dylan,” and that’s about as fitting a description as any. While “Cemetery of the No Name” is decidedly punk rock, it’s not in the traditional sense. Yes, there are four scorching punk rock tracks on here complete with Razorblades in tow. But the bulk of the record is just Beau with an acoustic guitar and the occasional added guitar with backing vocals and piano accompaniment. In other words, in a sea of clichéd punk rock complete with your typical Vans and Chuck Taylor bullshit, Beau’s record is a decided breath of fresh, or in his case, dead air. Practically every song is about Beau killing himself, Beau killing his girlfriend, killing someone else or watching people get killed. But behind his perceived crazy persona, this is very much an album full of soul-bearing, and often heart-wrenching love songs. He wastes little time telling you his flaws and his often romantic and psychotic thinking process. Let me put it in a way more people will understand. You know how AFI stripped down a few tracks on albums like “Art of Drowning” and “Sing the Sorrow?” Think an album full of that but much more intricate and in all aspects better. Davey Havoc might write songs that seem personal, but like all things with Beau Basement, it’s done far more harshly and direct. Beau takes his influences and rises above them. The counterpoint of Johnny and Michelle Stanec’s vocals on “Kill it Quickly,” “To Arrakeen With Love” and “Another Boxcar Romance” are like mixing fire and ice. Only Beau Basement can turn a song about watching kids get hit by cars and refusing to let a girl leave the room (“Car Crash Tonight”) beautiful and disturbing at the same time. The album’s greatest one-two punch comes on “The Bloody Banks of the Dark Wraith Night” and “What A Thoughtful Sentiment.” “Bloody Banks” is a tear-jerking piece about the girl that “went and died on me tonight … sweet little river, can you let me forgive her?” That’s followed by “Thoughtful Sentiment” – the best of the full-band tracks – with an over the top backing vocal harmony under Beau’s maniacal screams that triumphantly bring the record full circle. True punk. 9/10 – B.J. Lisko