I usually approach covers albums with a certain sense of ambivalence. On the one hand I’ve always enjoyed hearing bands giving their own readings of their favourite songs, since imitation is the best form of flattery. But on the other hand if, for example, a New Jersey hardcore band (like, say Ensign perhaps) decides to cover a bunch of hardcore songs from bands that have influenced their own heavy sound then you know you’re not going to get any world-shattering interpretations. One look at the liner notes confirms this – they state that this is a selection of tributes, plain and simple. No 80s classics rejigged with a horn section here; or a current pop song played with a heavy dose of irony – just hardcore songs from the time when the word ‘hardcore’ meant more than a wristband and some flesh tunnels.
If you’re not immediately familiar with this particular style of abrasive hardcore, let me illustrate. It’s super-fast (exemplified by Christ On A Crutch’s ‘Off Target’) while still retaining more than enough heaviness (see Discharge’s ‘Protest And Survive’) but with sizeable hefts of melody (Ensign‘s cover of Bad Religion‘s ‘Anaesthesia’ serves as a demonstration) for good measure. And that’s pretty much the spread of the entire album. The Replacements’ ‘Kids Don’t Follow’ gets things off to a blistering start and there is no noticeable drop in pace throughout the 19 tracks. Both Descendents covers (‘I’m Not A Loser’ and ‘Hurtin’ Crue’) are handled particularly well, with Frank’s dirty guitar sound complimenting Tim’s scratchy vocals.
The most leftfield track on here is Ensign‘s reading of Husker Du‘s ‘In A Free Land’ and even that sounds excellent, all huge riffs and frantically speedy drumming. Like I said before there’s not much musical variety but that’s more down to the subject matter than anything else. The Misfits‘ ‘Hatebreeders’ shows that Ensign can handle a different sound, with the Spook City choir showing what might have happened if Mr Danzig hadn’t sung for the ‘fits, and the combination of traditional rock licks employed in the original with the sheer power of out and out hardcore is frankly thrilling.
If you don’t like old-style NJ hardcore then steer clear – if you do, then this is a late Christmas present and a wet dream rolled into one. It’s like a mixtape of classic bands (and some gems like Infest and Insted whom I’d never previously heard of) being thrashed into life by a band who play as fast and as hard as any other. Bursting with passion and adrenaline, and complimented by some pleasing liner notes, this goes down as something to piss the fashion police off in fantastic style.
Ben
www.ensignnj.com