Like Cooper, who I just reviewed, Venerea are a European band who have been around the block and done their thing for a very long time without getting much mainstream recognition outside of their homeland. These Swedes do bear a passing resemblence to Millencolin or No Fun At All in the vocal delivery, yet sound a little more like Ten Foot Pole in terms of speed and the way the guitars thrash out hook after hook. Don't get me wrong, 'One Louder' is pretty good - it just doesn't cover that much new ground. I've used the phrase before, but i'll use it again - we've all heard this before.
Venerea - interestingly named Venereal Disease in their earlier years - have almost perfected a melodic skate-punk sound that had it's day in the mid 90's when the EpiFat sound was revered by all and sundry. That doesn't mean bands need to change their sound to fit in - far from it - but when records are merely good and not great, offering up a sound that sounded great 10 years ago, you're left with little to get genuinely excited about. 'Throwing Bricks' is a fantastic song - it takes me back to being a teenager when I loved Pennywise and Millencolin when they were all about breackneck drums and fast and furious three-chord riffs. But 14 songs of the same old stuff, 10 years after I first heard it, isn't going to spur on too many new fans.
Venerea are good - so good that if this record came out 10 years ago it probably would have done evry well indeed - but this album probably won't have much of a lasting impact on me. If you're a fan of No Fun At All, or want to relive a mispent youth, then 'One Louder' is the record for you. It's well worth checking out, but more of a short-term hit than a lasting record to fuel a summer's listening.
www.venereapunk.com
Bad Taste Records
Paul
