Labels: State Run
Review by: Kunal Nandi
A sense of urgency courses like adrenalin through the veins of this record. Call it youthful energy, or the product of small-town frustration, but something really magical happens here. It’s basically emotional punk rock a la Rites Of Spring, with all the constituent ingredients present and correct, but man, the RIFFS! The riffs are what make this. Noisy and hectic, but immediate, rousing and catchy like nothing else. The songs are the perfect length too, so it’s just hit after hit after hit. The really beautiful thing is that it’s completely possible that (the now sadly defunct) State Run have never even heard of any of the bands that they get compared to! They not only had their shit together musically though. They put this LP out themselves, and it’s presented simply but effectively. They even have the good grace to include a convenient CDR version that is not only equally well-presented, but also comes complete with the tracks from their earlier 7″ release on Rat Patrol Records, making it a complete discography if you will. Those earlier songs are weaker, but the album bit is one of the finest UK punk releases of this or any other year. Give it a few years and people will be falling over themselves to get a copy of this.