While Bombshell Rocks‘ last album, ‘From Here And On’, was an attempt to amalgamate crunchy street punk with the poppiest of melodies, ‘The Conclusion’ shows them eschewing the cheesy key changes in favour of some flat-out, balls to the wall punk rock. And it’s immediately obvious that this is a sound that suits the Rocks, since before it sounded like they were attempting to shoehorn themselves into a particular genre, albeit pretty successfully, while now they’re at their most effective.
The scratchy street punk of ‘Truth’ and ‘Move Rhythm City‘ characterise the whole album, as there’s a Rancid-esque lyrical snarl that evokes weeks on tour for no money, too much beer and just enough frenzied shows. Strangely enough, BR don’t sit snugly in either the old school or new wave of punk rock, since they take the vicious energy of the former and marry it to a technical proficiency and melodic nous that transcends most bands of this ilk. Perhaps it’s the remnants of their last album, but by letting the punk supersede the pop they’ve managed to forge a sound at once unique and familiar.
Like the momentum of the pissed punk barrelling around the dancefloor, pumping his fist and singing louder than the band (although rarely the same song), ‘The Conclusion’ simply launches from the blocks and only takes a breath with ‘Guns and Democracy’ before pummelling its way through thirteen solid punk rock songs that each have the potential to be anthems if heard at the right time. Listen to ‘Golden’ or ‘Bloodbrothers’ at the back end of a storming night out and you’ll be unable to stop yourself from throwing your arms around your best mate (or whoever’s nearest) and telling them in no uncertain terms that you’ll be friends forev…eurgh. Or put ‘Blind’ on loud through some tinny headphones and walk down the road, feeling like you can step right over that building if you want.
It’s not perfect, but it is a fine punk rock album. It shows a maturing sound from a band that could have faded into the background, but have instead developed into something pretty impressive. Well worth picking up, but I warn you: play it loud.
Ben
http://www.bombshellrocks.com/
www.householdnamerecords.co.uk