Labels: Inimical Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Criminal Code like their treble. At least I think that’s the right term, I don’t know nuffink about this music business, hence my propensity for garbage reviews where I just write “hey, this is great!” or “hey, this is fucking shit!”. Anyway, Criminal Code play hardcore punk that very much relies on treble. This gives them a somewhat 1980s sound, and bizarrely, to my ears at least, makes them sound a bit like Revolution Summer-esque obscuremos such as After Words, but faster. Or just early Husker Du. All seven songs on here stretch their legs and hit a straight ahead rhythm, and by golly does it conjure up quite the sound. Clearly there are killer melodies strewn throughout these songs, but in the way that something like Torches to Rome is “melodic”, you know? It’s all buried under fuzz and fury. And bar the drawn out noisy introduction to b-side opener, the belligerent “Specimen”, Criminal Code tend to just set the bulldozer in gear and leap from the cab. Further assistance as to whether this may be for you or not, is that they appear to be from Olympia. Case closed!