Much anticipated follow up to what I found to be a bit boring, previous album “American Slang”. Featuring 14 new songs and a cover of Nirvana’s ‘Sliver’ if you get the deluxe edition or simply 12 new songs otherwise. Lead in single, the very catchy “45” received a lot of airplay and set the stage for what is to follow. First listen and I was tapping along straight away to the catchy “whoah oah” choruses on the more upbeat songs on here that really make this album. There are a few slower numbers, which bop along and are kept interesting, but I really find the strength to Gaslight’s music is when they quickening things up a touch. Sure it’s no “Sink Or Swim” but hey, what is? Big improvement on their last effort and overall a really listenable album.
New band out of Adelaide fronted by Stolen Youth bassplayer, Matt “Footy” Horvath. Ten tracks on offer here that all clock in at around the one-minute mark, making for a ten-minute long debut release. This is very much stripped down, back to basics hardcore, ala Minor Threat, SSD and early 7 Seconds. The pace is fast, the music simplistic and the delivery is urgently intelligent. This easily could have been released some 30 years ago and been the perfect fit for the time period. Too good for a demo release, this is well deserving of a vinyl pressing. Grab a copy while you still can.
Ten-song debut full length from Brisbane’s Army Of Champions that follows their brilliant EP, also on the Arrest label. Channeling the sounds and inspiration of the likes of Against Me, Hot Water Music and the Gaslight Anthem, AOC’s sound would fall somewhere in between the three. With a gravelly main vocal and a smoother backing vocal, the delivery is very much reminiscent of the HWM formula. The clean guitar sound ala Gaslight and the catchy anthemic choruses much akin to Against Me, all add to the masterpiece. Throw in the odd bit of brass horn into the mix and you have one very interesting collective and matured sound for a band on its second release.
The second feature length documentary from Parkway, that takes the viewer on a journey through a year in the life of the band. Featuring a mix of live and free time footage filmed throughout Europe, Japan, USA, Sth America, India and of course Australia, this a global round trip voyage, that will leave you not only amazed at the scale of the band’s popularity, but also very jealous of the life they lead. Not one to sit around a hotel room in between shows, we follow the boys as they surf, skate, jump off cliffs, ride motor bikes, shred wave pools and generally have the time of their lives. Brilliantly directed, edited and for the most part shot by the band’s drummer Ben Gordon, there is little wonder this DVD has topped the charts.
After an acoustic EP to tie fans over til this LP dropped, MDAM return with their 5th release, their second full length LP, on a new label even to boot. These eleven new songs have a slick production feel to them that kind of strips away a bit of the rawness that I’ve come to love from MDAM. The songwriting remains much the same moving further away from the HWM influence to more of their own defined sound. Most songs are a masterpiece in themselves with a slow intro that builds into a climatic finish. There is no shortage of intricate, yet highly addictive slow burners on offer. Like most MDAM records, this takes a few listens to digest, once it takes hold though, its pretty addictive.
Gotta admit I really missed the boat on this band. Having never really been a fan of frontman Chris Colohan’s previous band Cursed, I ignorantly lumped Burning Love into the same category. Burning Love have a real downtuned heavy, yet upbeat rock n roll feel to their music, kind of like Doomriders or at times Murder City Devils. These 12 new songs accompanied by an intro and outro follow up their debut LP “Songs For Burning Lovers “. There is a lot going on within the layers of guitars and vocals and a lot of thought has gone into the songwriting and recording process. In short, this is awesome and I gotta say I’m looking forward to seeing these songs live in August when they tour.
Everyone’s favourite Dutch straight edge, communist hardcore band reunites and returns with 8 new songs repackaged with their classic “10 Inches That Shook The World” record and “Myth Of Freedom” 7 inch for a n essential double LP purchase. New songs sound exactly like you would hope them too and the band have lost nothing in their approach and uniqueness. The music is fast, the lyrics are intelligent and the message still resonates. It’s crazy that a band can still sound this good after 15 years apart. Love this band, love this release.
Reunion album for Verse after their short hiatus that features 10 new tracks and 3 instrumental segues. Picking straight up where last effort “Aggression” left off, nothing at all has changed for Verse and this album represents a natural progression in style and sound. The vocals sound the same, and musically it is no different either really, though the band do experiment with some different sounds and keyboards in the instrumentals. They still have that catchy groove to their songs and keep things really interesting in their approach. This will please old and new fans alike.
The Souls return with a fresh follow-up to the anniversary collection of 7 inch tracks that was “Ghosts on The Boardwalk”, featuring ten new songs from the masters of melody. There is something so comforting about hearing the vocals of frontman Greg Attonito, it’s like having your faith in the punk rock genre restored for every crappy record you listened to in the past couple of years. Having been at it since 89, the Souls have long worked out the formula for writing a catchy tune and this album has no shortage of them. Another cracker from a flawless catalog of great albums.
New 6 song EP from NYHC stalwarts Madball, on a new venture for frontman Freddy Cricien with his own record label. New drummer Igor from Backfire joins the ranks after the publicized departure of Jay Weinberg to Against Me, and slots in nicely next to Hoya and Mitts. Two old tracks in that of “Get Out” and “It’s My Life” get a re-working, while you pretty much know what your gonna get with the sound of the other new Madball songs. Though “My Blood” surprises with an almost Iron Maiden sounding lead in the mix. Short, sweet and solid.
