(DL56) LAMBPAIGN - England
With Deadlamb Records there
is no profit, no pomposity and no hidden agenda. The label is a pure stalwart of
supporting underdog noise and does it in a fine and unassuming way. Since day
dot I have been on their side, I will continue to be so, labels like this are
the lifeblood of music - the art is in the doing and doing for the utter love of
it. This latest spilling is a mere 12 tracks, I invest good time as per and
produce the usual honest, and hopefully, encouraging review.
We begin and 'No Choice' by Attestor is an affair that begins with crummy guitar
grumblings and much agitation. The development takes us into a nasty tumble-fuck
affair that has a fine ethos and kicks back at the fascists bastards and
downright idiotic. The violence of this opening thrust is both obvious and
controlled although when one comes out at the other end, one feels nicely
roughed up. A decent start to a CD with much promise. 'Piece Of Meat' by
Backstreet Abortions is wonderful action filled rabidity with a real snarling
shit spew that has a delicious chorus desire that is neatly broken by some
highly appealing guitar work – it sets my soul aflame. From the opening bee-fuzz
frenzy through the marvellous counterpunches the song works a treat and I
fuckin' love it. Foaming, fiery and not fuckin' having any of your shit, this is
a minor zenith. Proud City Fathers follow, they are a solid unit and have a
vicious edge that once more comes to the fore. 'Summer Of Hate' is a seething
molten mass rolling your way with control and intensity before exploding into a
gratuitous fountain of searing rage and hatred. The band play it remarkably
tight, have me on the edge of my seat and ready to go throw a brick, shake
someone until they wake the fuck up or indeed holler for all I am worth with
utter disgust at a planet turning to rancid bilge. A fine band completing a
fuckin' fine hat-trick.
Bass bumble, string statements, a skid and then into the hollering. In Evil Hour
have a good reputation, 'Build It Up' proves why with a feisty and highly
organised slap of sonic power-mongering. The lady at the helm may be petite in
stature but she doesn't half let it gush forth with good gumption and is backed
by a concrete unit of noise-makers who all contribute to a highly convincing
eruption. This latest explosion shows why Deadlamb Records do what they do and
how they have their lugs tuned in to many flavours - on we go - salivating.
'This Hating Nation' by Diaz Brothers has a more euro-feel to matters and a more
technical edge with my only gripe that the vocals are too submerged for their
own good and so lose some of their clarity and effectiveness. I hang on in there
and put in some perspired effort - the outcome of my ponderings is of a song
with sharp and sweeping guitar work and some rigid stick stabilisation but with
a lack of snagging melody that grabs my personal receptors - these things happen
and I am sure many will disagree with my verdict (I hope so).
Eastfield come next, a band that never fail to delight my sensors and once
again, they do just that. What a fuckin' beautiful song this is and oh how it
sums up the DIY spirit, belief and downright tenacious attitude of many folks
out there. I love the light and breezy delivery, the transparency and the
understanding of something that matters. The song is an immediate foot-tapper, a
real joy - what a good band these lot are. Kicked In The Teeth come next and
provide a nice tensed up counter-punch to the previous song. 'Dead Air' snarls
and seethes whilst bashing away at a world of apathy and head-wanking idiocy.
The strait-jacketed sensation is given a brief respite via shimmery nebularity
that eases the pressure. A fair offering, reminiscent of many things I have
heard before, but who cares as long as the bollocks are bared.
5 songs left, Zero Again stampede and rampage in that recognisable mad-as-fuck
hardcorian way so many love to indulge in. 'Husk' is a shatter-clatter
splat-fuck of unleashed mania and is the quintessential 'acquired taste' music.
Like a dish of many flavours served, my hungry salivating senses need a
peppering of spice to enhance the whole feast. This, if part of a slumgullion of
similar spillage, would be too much to bear but here fits in just right and
makes the overall meal taste mighty fine. Knife Club join the fray next with a
positive product that encourages one to never give in and just keep on trying.
'You Can Only Try Your Best' has a good feel to it with a fair melody and some
good vibes. The song may lack the true welly-wanking 'oomph' factor but the
vocals work well in unison and there are many who will love this. Knife Club do
what they do, they are certainly not out of place on this CD. The Hoors donate a
strange and quite obvious song next with the swirling montage of filth and
fuckery making 'Dirty Old Man' a difficult song to take to. Simple in many ways,
crass in others, short and scurfy with a distinct completeness lacking. I don't
like this one, it needs work but I suspect after a few beers, in the pit, I
would be joining in with the spillings - daft ain't it.
The Sentence are a band I know well, they started off their journey in fine
style and were lapped up by many faces. They have many good songs to their name,
I am finding though (like I do with quite a few bands) the early stuff is
outweighing later releases. There are many reasons for this which I have no time
to go into here and I stick to the song under the spotlight. The guitars have a
roughened edges, the bass provides meat on the bone and the drums splash with
good muscle. The vocals are utterly raw and honest and the mode is perhaps
typical of the genre but still does what it does with magnetising belief - you
can't ask for anything more (or could you). We close with a feisty kicker that I
love. 'Pink Bits' by Last Reserves takes a situation that has gone on for far
too long, grabs the knackers of the patronising perpetrators and squeezes real
hard whilst hollering out a sure-fire reaction. A gentle and deceiving start, a
young girl watches, tries to get involved and gets labelled. The explosive
action that comes is unruly, natural and laden with a frustration at a state of
shittery all too rife in this so called 'normal' society. For me the song says
'piss on their expectations, defy their judgements, put a fist through their
grooming guidebooks' and a make a fuckin' noise whilst doing so. A smashing full
stop.
And once more Deadlamb delve, dabble and deliver an assortment of ditties that
showcases the goodness found beneath the more blatant radars and where good life
breeds good sounds. I hope this lot, as well as the bands, just continue on and
on and keep pushing the boundaries - it needs doing don't ya know.
www.fungalpunknature.co.uk
(DL56) LAMBPAIGN - England
Deadlamb has published similar collections before and this is
one that is solely focused on English bands. Some I've heard in before like In
Evil Hour, Eastfield and Zero Again but otherwise there are a lot of new bands
for me. First up is Ättesttor with their fast and short punk song but what I
hear here feels interesting. Backstreet Abortions with a female singer makes me
think a little about Crass a bit and that's a good rating even if it's obviously
not a ripoff or so. Proud City Fathers sound angry and it might not be so
strange when they have a song called Summer of Hate... a little different in
sound sometimes but so good! In evil hour is always good and it's gotten even
better than the early material that I've heard. Diaz Brothers has a sound that
is a bit different from the previous bands and here it is more punk rock in its
own way than it would be hardcore. All this with Bad Religion choirs. Eastfield
is always good and doesn't have much more to comment on about them... Kicked in
the Teeth has a punk sound that I really like and would like to hear more of!
Zero Again has the shortest and fastest song and it's easy to get run over by
them. Knife Club has singers who are heard a lot over the music and I really
like this. The Hoors have a sound that is the oddest thing on the record.....
Second to last out is The Sentence and what strikes me that this could be a song
by UK Subs and I say that as a compliment... really nice song. Last Reserves has
the last and the longest song on the record. The song starts with a woman who
speaks like some old Crass song and later it starts in an excellent way.....the
record's best song? Desperate song by female singer but such a beautiful song!
13/6-2022
Swedish - Deadlamb har gett ut liknande samlingar förut och
detta är en som enbart är fokuserad på engelska band. Några har jag hört in
innan som In Evil Hour, Eastfield och Zero Again men annars är det många nya
band för mig. Först ut är Attesttör med sin snabba och korta punklåt men det jag
hör här känns intressant. Backstreet Abortions med en kvinnlig sångerska får mig
att tänka lite på Crass och det är väl ett gott betyg även om det självklart
inte är en ripoff eller så. Proud City Fathers låter arga och det kanske inte är
så konstigt när de har en låt som heter Summer of Hate…lite annorlunda i soundet
ibland men så bra! In evil hour är alltid bra och det har blivit ännu bättre än
det tidiga materialet som jag hört. Diaz Brothers har ett sound som skiljer sig
lite från de föregående banden och här är det mer punkrock på ett eget sätt än
att det skulle vara hardcore. Allt detta med Bad Religion-körer. Eastfield är ju
alltid bra och har inte så mycket mer att kommentera om dem…Kicked in the Teeth
har ett punksound som jag verkligen gillar och skulle vilja höra mer av! Zero
Again har den kortaste och snabbaste låten och det är lätt att blir överkörd av
dem. Knife Club har sångare som hörs mycket över musiken och jag gillar
verkligen detta. The Hoors har ett sound som är det mest udda på skivan…..Näst
sist ut är The Sentence och det som slår mig att detta skulle kunna vara en låt
av UK Subs och det säger jag som en komplimang…riktigt skön låt. Last Reserves
har den sista och den längsta låten på skivan. Låten börjar med en kvinna som
talar likt någon gammal Crass-låt och senare sätter den igång på ett ypperligt
sätt…..skivans bästa låt? Desperat sång av kvinnlig sångerska men så skön låt!
13/6-2022
Skrutt Magazine
