top of page

Bantam Rooster (Fuck All Ya All)

Crank this to 7.9 of 11

Released: 2011

Genre: Garage Rock

Sounds Like: Honkeyfinger, Speedball Baby, Brimstone Howl

Having formed in 1994, Bantam Rooster put out 5 albums before calling it quits in 2003. Although they never hit their stride in the popularity arena, the band put an imprint on the garage rock scene. Fans of Bantam Rooster are quite savvy folks from a perspective of what Bantam Rooster brought to the garage and punk rock scenes. Their style was a bit unruly dancing on the southern hillbilly end yet their sound still holds true through today’s garage rock sentiment whether you time warp them back 10 years or forward 10 years. Hailing from Lansing, Michigan, the band was led by Thomas Jackson Potter a balls to the wall performer with a super aggro-falsetto appeal. .Potter entertained several different bandmates over their span and often toured as a duo. Ultimately they became the lost child of the duo scene as label-mates the White Stripes (Sympathy For the Record Industry) catapulted ahead while Fuck All Y’All died a pretty quick death. This was their last album and Potter went on to start his new band Chrome Spiders in 2007.


Track List:

1. Dumb It Down

2. High Priestess

3. This Time

4. Shitlist + 1

5. Perceptive Pornstar

6. Crack In Your System

7. The Detroiter (part 2)

8. You´re The Sun

9. Burn Down

10. Lockdown Monologue

11. It Girl

12. Dealbreaker

13. High School Girls

14. This Close To Suicide


The fourteen tracks flow quite nicely as Bantam Rooster ends their force with quite a bang. This album was in our opinion their best and most energetic and visionary. Throughout the track list we hear the roots of what has now hit tremendous popularity from the Black Keys to the Dead Weather on to the Derangers. The production is appropriately gritty and mono but volume quite crisp working quite well. From the heavy tracks that feature the screeching of Potter of "Dumb it Down" to "Shitlist +1" to the more pensive Doors influence "Perceptive Pornstar" Bantam Rooster delivers variety with a very heavy twang. The punk-edge bleeds further through accompanied by tremendous harmonic work and Ramones-like distinction on "High School Girls". The closer "This Close to Suicide" offers up a very melodramatic ending and morphs into some of the heaviest vocals on the album. Potter sounds like Brian Johnson set afire. What a powerful ending.


Fuck All Ya All is a whirlwind of gritty and heavy twangy fun. We strongly recommend this one for fans of unfiltered garage rock and rockabilly. Bantam Rooster certainly ended their legacy on a strong up-tick. Ultimately the album contains an intriguing mix of simple but heavy guitar rhythms and a lead singer with pipes that leave you never questioning his conviction and energy. Very entertaining all around.


Standout Tracks: Shitlist +1, Dumb It Down, You´re The Sun


0 comments

Related Posts

See All
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
bottom of page