RIYL: BAD RELIGION, SOCIAL DISTORTION AND THE DECENDANTS
Punk’s not dead. Not by a long shot. Ever since the summer of ’77 and perhaps a few years prior to that, bands have heard the first strains of the glorious, snotty, rebellious three chord chug of Punk rawk and tried to cop the feel and the feelings. Realistically you could count the bands with originality that followed the first of Punk and Hardcore on about two and a half hands. Especially when it comes to newer bands saying something traditional in a new way. Still, once in a while a new band comes along and will impress you the way VOICE OF ADDICTON does on how much is prednisone their new album Reduce Reuse Resist.
Beyond the clever title, the album is full of anthemic jams about self-revolution, thinking for yourself and questioning authority. There have been many positive forces in the history of the genre, but few manage to stay uplifting and on message at the same time. VOA bassist Ian has a distinctive, passionate voice that matches the urgency of the messages. The entire band chips in some terrific harmony vocals and you can tell they’ve worked hard on this aspect.
Musically the pop part of the “Pop Punk” is definitely intact, but with a lot of other elements that take them to another level. “Wrecking Ball” leads off the record with a furious riff and a hot tribal beat from Andy on the drums. Kyle adds in a nice guitar solo and there is a neat bridge building up to the end. The perfect way to start things off. “Constant Pollution” has rumbling bassline and another stellar beat, this time in a throwback to the 1980s Burundi beat ADAM AND THE ANTS or BOW WOW WOW would use. The song shifts gear quickly from tribal to straight ahead punk, to rock and then to almost Psychobilly without losing your ear. This ability to genre blend rocks and shows the maturity for a band on their fourth release. The band flirts with Ska a few times and it sounds fresh, not contrived.
“September Remembered” has a hint of “House of The Rising Sun” classic rock quality while “Jo-C” could have been written by a band like VOLBEAT it sounds so tough and cool. From the soulfulness The uptempo rocking of “Warriors” and “Decision Street” keep things heavy and true sounding. This album has a lot of memorable songs and fine hooks. “Need Change” closes out things with a heartfelt, grown up bit of songcraft sure to make dudes and chicks with faded tats a little teary eyed for the good old days we could take comfort in; if only they hadn’t been drowned.
—————————
For More Information Visit:
—————————
http://www.voiceofaddiction.com
