Labels: Spastic Fantastic – Way Back When
Review by: Alex Deller
In my mind there exists some sort of device like a cross between the national lottery ball-dropper and the wasp factory. Instead of lucky numbers or insectile death, it chops and churns out randomly-selected hardcore band names, aggregating previously-used adjectives in new yet familiar ways. Examples might include:
Violent Approach
Vicious Teens
Negative Alert
Poison Youth
Urban Code
And so forth.
Whether or not Citizens Patrol have made use of this arcane device is knowledge only they and their maker may share, but the name fits and so, indeed, does the sound. Their four songs have a lumpy 80s hardcore vibe to them, albeit crisply played and tidily recorded. Maybe if Poison Idea were a bit better scrubbed, or if a youth crew act like Side By Side had a go at some Negative Approach covers?
Belgians Reproach have been around for a while now, even before the 80s Hardcore Name Generator existed. Hence their monicker is a stunted one-word job, albeit seemingly a cut n’ shove effort redolent of their preferred era in punk rock’s proud and illustrious history. Their songs are a bit beefier and meaner, with the occasional Infestesque inflection and, in ‘Kanpai!’, some entertaining back-up vox.
Both sides of the record are certainly above average and rather ‘pro’. However, I do wonder whether they’ll make the cut in three years’ time when you’re surveying the vistas of your record collection and pondering a space-saving or money-making cull. Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about this, though. Maybe I should live in the moment more and enjoy these brief blasts for what they are rather than viewing each 7″ record as a future burden or weighing up its ‘relevance’ in the grand scheme of things. Maybe this will thoroughly electrify you and turn your life upside down. Maybe.