Fights & Fires & Touring & Recording & Hardcore & Rinse & Repeat.... (Album Review)

FIGHTS AND FIRES

PROOF THAT GHOSTS EXIST

2011

LOCKJAW RECORDS

Fights And Fires are, without a doubt, one of THE hardest working and hardest touring bands in the country.  And on ‘Proof That Ghosts Exist’, they’ve literally squeezed everything they’ve seen, done, heard & played on their essentially never ending tour onto the eleven tracks.

Although only their first full length, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s an album from long-time veterans, which it sort of is.  it’s filled with the quality and confidence of a band that know their shit, and that have, regardless of releases, been around the block more times than you can count.

Like most of Lockjaw’s releases, this is an album that teeters on many an edge, unashamedly teasing you with the poppiest of pop-punk melodies on tracks like “Shake It” and “Fan The Flames”, while keeping it cynical and hardcore on tracks like one minute opener “Testaments” & “You Can’t Say Slags On The Radio”.  The latter of which purveying the kind of our morals have gone to shit but I don’t really care’cause it’s kind of fun mentality you’d expect from the likes of Mike Skinner & Co.

Guaranteed crowd-pleasers wherever they play, Fights And Fires have honed a perfect example of everything they do on the road, and an album that sounds, in the best way possible, like it’s been tweaked, prepped, teased and slaved over for many a night, getting it just so, yet sounding every bit as spontaneous and manic as their onstage antics.

Not only a jewel in the crown of Lockjaw Records, but of the UK hardcore scene full stop, F&F should be high up on your list of ‘Bands I Have To See This Year’, if, indeed, you’ve missed them the 200 other times they played in your town.

I've tried my best to keep the hyperbole to a minimum, but it was REALLY tough (album review)

The Armed
Common Enemies e.p. (2010)
These Are Lights (2009)
Independant


In a period of less than ten days, poeple from four bands I'd worked with told me to look up Detroit's The Armed. I got absolutely no details, just facebook and text messages, and the odd face-to-face telling me off for not already knowing who they were.


There's not a whole lot of info about the band online, BUT, you can get all of their shit FOR FREE via their website (the fantastically designed and simple www.thearmed.com). I STRONGLY urge you do it. Now. 

Over their two releases, 2010's ep 'Common Enemies' and 09's full lenght 'These Are Lights', you'll be treated to a brand of hardcore that is truly awe-inspiring in it's process and production. An easy comparison would be Converge and maybe to odd bit of modern UK hardcore; but, they don't really sound like anyone (Maybe Converge's 'Axe To Fall' is the best comparison, being that it was so eclectic). The vocals are rough, loud, and, incredibly for the style, perfectly clear. EP opener "Death Panel" pulls in at two of the best minutes you're likely to have, squeezing in some seriously fun riffs, and then moving seamlessly into the super fast, super brutal and very awesome "Liar". If you don't find yourself shouting along to this on first listen you're more than a bit rubbish. "Second Hand" brings everything down slowly and somewhere serene, sounding not unlike somthing you might here from latter-day Incubus, and closer "Woodenlung", while bringing in some slower pacing than the first two, still packs the huge kick in the face you'll be desperate for within minutes of putting this thing on.

'These Are Lights' is, quite easily, a contender for one of the best albums of the year. Where the only issue with their 2010' ep is the far too short running time, you get eleven tracks here. not that you don't still feel like you've been short changed as it clocks in at less than thirty minutes. I could happily listen to this one on repeat all day, and pretty much have been.

"Party At Pablo's" opens like a knife to the ear, and second track "Kingbreaker" is the first of many absolutly fucking incredible tracks. Using pedals and production to get some truly unique sounds from the guitar, it kind of sounds like a grown up Gallows (Again, all these comparisons I'm making are fairly tenuous, so don't take them as too literal, these guys sound unlike everything else out there). Hardcore staples like beatdowns and gang vocals pepper the album, but every time it's done like it's brand new, like you've never heard it before before. Such is the way they're doing things.

"Hail Troglodon" surprises with some sparkling electronics, which develop into an eventual cover of NIN's "Gave Up" later on the album. In a way, it sounds like The Armed writing a NIN song rather than a cover, if that makes sense. And I mean that in the best way possible.

Closing tracks "Elephant" and "The Great Fatsby" go for the trick of quiet, atmospheric build-ups leading to one of the most brutal tracks on the album. Spoken word (Female & Portugese, no less) and some real post-rock guitar cut to spiky, jarring times and a guitar & drum set that borders on death metal (or maybe even, the super trend of metal-core), while never straying from a sound that wholly and completely belongs to The Armed. 

Once again, ALL of their shit is available for free from their website, where you can also buy prhysical copies of both 'common Enemies'and 'These Are Lights', vinyls, tee's, and watch vid's n' that. Go there and do it all. This is a band that needs, and more importantly, DESERVES your attention and support.

Bro-Hood Encapsulated (Review)

The Departed

Remnants, EP (2010)

Lockjaw Records

Most reviews of this album are going to start with something along the lines of “Grimsby isn’t know for it’s hardcore scene”, or something along those lines.  It’s true, mind, but not too much of a surprise when you think about what growing up in dull Middle England towns can do to you.  This is really what has, it seems, inspired The Departed.  And with Remnants, they’ve crafted seven tracks that are, literally, the personification of the ‘Hardcore Brotherhood’.

Every aspect of every song is there to remind you of how hard they’re working at being in this band, and how hard it is to do it from somewhere with no scene to speak of, and the need to stick together and get out and keep playing.  From the dramatic build up of the title-track opener, and straight into the “Stay True” chant in ‘Broactive’, this is an album dripping in ‘Fuck you, this is what we need’.

The music holds up to this, and everything you’d expect from toughguy/DIY/whatever hardcore bands is there; chunky bass, heavy beatdowns, double-time drums.  All present and correct, and all played with the sincerity that bands like this need.  As forward as it is, with all it’s gang vocals and openly with us/against us lyrics, at no point is it feeling forced, and you get a real feeling that they’re not just in this for fun (something they’re definitely having, mind, every track is near-textbook throw yourself around and party while hurting each other hardcore), but they’re in this because they need it, to get out of whatever grey part of Britain they may be from.

For anyone into TRC, the last Trash Talk album or old-schoolers like Madball & Terror, or if you just like an excuse to swing your limbs madly at a gig, get on this.

In love? Set yourself On Fire: Best of 2010 (Album Review)

Burning Love
Songs for Burning Lovers
2010
Moving on from previous bands and projects can be any level of easy or tough, but, occasionally, you have to make the choice to follow up a band like Cursed; a band with more than just a loyal fanbase, these guys are adored by pretty much everyone who's heard them.

Chris Colohan has done a great job of following his old doom & crust inspired hardcore outfit, with Burning Love bringing some kind of Motorhead-like garage punk noise, sounding both polished and cared for at the same time as sounding rough and messy as fuck. Setting off with 'Destroyer Of Worlds', a sludgey garage anthem that clocks in at barely a minute and a half, the record's filled with gutteral, scratchy verses shouted at full pelt & bass lines that tear around like a rusty saw, and, sometimes, even hinting at something a little psychadelic (in that Horrors/80's Matchbox kinda way).

And it's this blending of the growling, distorted bass and the clear, Doomriders-like guitar that make this stand out so much. Second track 'Don't Ever Change' is a perfect example of what they're up to, but it's on the quick-fire tracks like 'Money Shot' and 'The Needle' where this album is at its best, repeatedly defying the odds and squeezing so much good shit in the way of dirty riffs and gloomy rock & roll into manic 90-odd second chunks.

Easily one of the most anticipated releases of the year, not only is this a rewarding listen for fans of Cursed, its also entirely its own thing; far more accessible, and with the songs, riffs and hooks of a fucking great punk rock band channeled through something grim and heavy as fuck.
 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Burning-Love/112400578781827

Polka Polka Polka! Booze Booze Booze! Party Party Party! (album review)

The Dreadnoughts
"Polka's Not Dead"
Destiny Records
2011

Much like Flogging Molly, and for the more cynical of us, the Dropkick Murhpy's, The Dreadnoughts have fashioned their own take on the whole Irish Punk/Folk/But Not Actually From Ireland template. Where Molly can sometimes seem a bit flat, and Murphy's can often be repetetive (a couple of decades in the Biz might do that), the 'Noughts are sounding incredibly fresh by comparison.

Canadian by geography, Irish by intent, and ending up with more than a touch of the Gogol Bordello Gypsy-punk about them, this is a proper good times album.

The title track is a perfect example of drunken, leery and fun-poking awesome, and at a pace that makes you spin like a fool. Youth is clearly on their side, shining through on the lyrics most of all, and with the old-timey remeniscing that most/all bands like this are all too guilty of far from ear shot, this adds yet another refreshing dimension to a record that runs the risk of being washed away in sea shanty's and beer. But instead, the Dreadnoughts are foaming up and over the cracked lip of the pint glass, a luke-warm beer spilling on the floor and being danced across the chipped boards of a dirty little bar in a basement, doing more for your head and your limbs than you'd like to admit, and making you party well into the morning pretending you're Irish.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laughing-in-the-Face-of/8774344353?sk=info#!/thedreadnoughts

Laughing Laughing Laughing! In The Face Of In The Face Of In The Face Of! (Album review)

Laughing In The Face Of
"The Lubrication Of Social Anxiety"
Lockjaw Records
2011

Pop-punk with a real metal twist? Ok, then. Standing out from all else on the record, and stomping on everything you thought about pop-punk, the guitars on LITFO's new album are a true pleasure. Chugging and twiddling their way through every song, keeping your ear tied down and making sure you don't wander off. Opener/intro 'Open Seseme' could sit hapilly on many a recent beatdown album.

The let down comes from poor mixing. With the vocals, more than adequate on any other record, far too high in the mix, and only serving to point out that they are just that, Adequate. Lyrically, the aim's clearly & commendably high; they're intelligent and complex, but often jarring against the music and the vocal style itself, lending the whole album and unfinished feel that almost belittles the actual songwriting.

Midway track 'Grren T' comes closest to what all the other tracks hint at, where it all fits exactly how I think they want it to throughout. It gives you a clear glimps about what this band are after, and indeed their potential for some good shit in the future.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laughing-in-the-Face-of/8774344353?sk=info