4 out of 5

Label: Robot Radio Records

Producer: Fabio Magistrali

Robot Radio Records is my new jam – a digitally free “we might not be here tomorrow” label with a rotating mash of artists in various permutations of bands to which I hope I can give some money soon to get physical copies of all of their discs, which all come in nifty, effort-involved packaging… BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC

Well, even though this album is only 7-tracks and pretty much pummels you with its hardcore punk sound from the get-go, it took me a while to come around on it.  Mostly because the last song totally sounds like a de-post-metaled and re-punked Botch song, and so it was hard to shake that feeling on other tracks, that I’d heard other songs close to these songs before.  But: it kept making me re-listen to the album, literally back to back, which is a good sign in and of itself, that you don’t tire of the recording as such.  And the issue became more apparent: that, yes, there are elements here that ring true of other bands – the spoken / yelled lyrics are very Dischord / D.C.ish, specifically reminding me of Quick Fix Kills or Call Me Lightning, both bands which probably aren’t from D.C. and aren’t on Dischord – and some of the riffs that percolate through this smash are definitely cut and pasted from a world of hardcore and punk influences.  I’m not making up that Botch tie in.  However, these aren’t just stolen ideas, they’re just familiar ones, and the group shouted lyrics make it hard to let it sink in, as no one voice seems to really unify the sound.  But once you move past that and just focus on this as some effing rock noise, the energy behind every aspect starts to get your head rockin’ and the snarling recording style (crystal clear, really pushing up the high end so that every tom-tom drum noise is crisp) fits the bill perfectly.

It’s really just excellent, cut-above punk stuff, one extra degree of every eff-you element needed to make them the band you remember the night after.