Fear Like Us - Street Vipers - 7

Labels: Poison City Records
Review by: MH

Fear Like Us play punk rock with a folk influence. While talk of that folkier part of the genre may dissuade some people, these guys play it with a hell of a bite. This is thanks partly to the powerful vocal delivery of Jamie Hay (who some may be familiar with from his other bands like Conation and A Death In The Family) and the band has a full, chunky sound and rhythm section. They are one of Australia’s less prolific bands having put out a full length five years ago and only following it up with this 7inch this year. The band members are divided between Melbourne and Newcastle which are, conveniently enough, approximately 638 miles apart. This five tracker opens with “The Bands Are Breaking Up” which is about the passion and energy for something (like bands, or a relationship) dwindling until the realisation that it is going or gone. The lyrics are also angry and politically firey at times. Next song “Fear Of Ghosts” is a rockier track and deals with the idea that politics and issues are being spoken about less and less now and that it’s important to keep challenging and talking about issues rather than staying within a comfort zone. The title track is up next and the folky influence is there in the intro but again their more powerful side comes to the fore as the track kicks in. They also show a more melancholy and vulnerable side on the melodic “Winded” which closes with a neat gang vocal as it drifts off. The closing track is a Born Against cover version which gives you an idea of their influences and they do a good job of it. Still plenty of fire in this band yet and there will hopefully be more to come from them despite the physical distances between band members.