Labels: Jump Start Records
Review by: Sean Haughton
Plow United’s newest record is their first in 14 years, which is something of a gap for any band. The danger of returning to a long-dormant band that’s loved by a lot of people looms over anything like this and there’s obvious fears that someone’s going to tarnish a legacy. Will it stand up to previous work?
Coming at this as a new listener, Plow United play an aggressive-but-catchy form of pop punk that pre-dates the influx of “gruff” that has marred a genre. That golden-era Bouncing Souls kind of vibe. From what I can gather from what I have heard of older records, this shoots for something of a slicker sound, although not in a way that it feels overproduced. The production certainly suits the anthemic nature of it all.
‘Marching Band’ almost feels like getting into a timewarp of Tony Hawk soundtracks in the way it sidesteps any sort of trend at all. I actually get a lot of ‘London Calling’-era Clash from this record (more in feeling than as a straight reference). While some of the lyrics are a little too much for me (‘The War Is Over And Our Side Won’ and ‘Water Rights’ especially) for the most part they balance dejected and hopeful pretty well, a lot of the tracks here are straight-up well-crafted pop songs and cuts like ‘Next Five Minutes’ are great. If I’d heard that song at 16 I definitely would have flipped out. It never feels like old dudes going through the motions of a heritage act and it definitely attempts to build on the band’s previous work. If this is a sound that still appeals to you and I can’t imagine you really going wrong with this record.