Labels: Loony Tunes
Review by: Alex Deller
Feel like Scarborough’s Active Minds need some kind of medal or prize for going at it for so long, having churned out gobby political hardcore since the middle 80s and outlasting innumerable peers and trends. This EP sees the band refusing to slow down (it has, in fact, been superseded by two other releases since it was sent to us) and burning through seven tracks of straightforward punk rock that recall everything from Criminal Damage and the Libido Boyz to the more straight-up end of the 625 Thrash roster. Lyrically they tackle subjects that encompass the vile abuses of Jimmy Saville and the system that covered up his crimes, leftist politics and the blight of social media, with each song accompanied by a mini essay of thoughts and observations. This all said, however, everything from the music and the football terrace delivery to the graphic design is pretty meat and potatoes, and while the band have stuck to their political as well as musical guns over the years there’s a definite corniness to proceedings when they start banging on about MySpace. If you’re a fan of the band then you’ll doubtless have this already, and if you’re not but fancy some stodgy, well-intentioned punk then dive on in and dig all the way back to the 80s if you happen to like what you hear.