Labels: Jump Start Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Solid, straight forward album here, but your tolerance for it will be directly proportional to your love of the genre it takes on. 12 songs of pumping melodic hardcore, straight out of the Kid Dynamite penned guide to the subject. Each track gets the blood flowing, a diet of hard hitting and fast paced guitars, yelled vocals and entry level personal / political lyrics (“WAR IS PEACE! FREEDOM IS SLAVERY! AND IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”). Nothing out of the ordinary here but if you enjoy the style you can always do with hearing a new band dish out their take on their style every now and again. If you are into bands such as the Dynamite, or Lifetime or Death is Not Glamorous or Paint it Black (and the list goes on), then this sweat sodden effort will more than likely be something that you will enjoy. I might be a little “past it” to fully appreciate the style these days as I have heard more than my fair share of bands like this, but this is definitely a decent take, although it does feel quite dated. It’s rough and ready enough to trigger the right neuron connections in me noggin, as if this style is too clean it ends up sounding pretty ropey (although I didn’t mind that new Lifetime LP to tell the truth). About half way through though, my attention inevitably begins to wander, the persistent vocals begin to grate and the overly similar songs merge into one, and you really are better off with the first Shook Ones LP or that Rehaser album on No Idea.