House on Fire - s/t - CD (2003)

Labels: 1-2-3-4 GO!
Review by: Andy Malcolm

Oh dear. This band has the singer from Panthro UK United 13, but totally fails to live up to that pedigree. It’s 6 songs of ridiculously simple hardcore. Some of it is melodic, some of it is not. Sometimes they have widdly metal bits. But overall it has virtually no redeeming features. The vocals are gruff and shouted with backups. The title track is decent, but is basically a Hot Water Music cover, from the bass sound to the widdly bits to the vocals. It’s downright cheeky really. After that they get back to playing straight forward hardcore that just fries my mind with it’s ultra basic approach. Of course, most good hardcore is simple in the extreme, but most good hardcore is also good, now there’s something. And House on Fire forgot to be good. Go buy something on 625 or Havoc or something if you want generic hc that makes an impact. Because on this release, mediocrity abounds, and they are no better than your local hc band that points their fingers and plays mid-paced drudgery. Shit, the last song even sounds like Goober Patrol. Man alive.