New Frustration,
Guns on the RoofI caught GOTR at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool the other week. They were on just before me and I was eager not to drink to ruin another fine set so I was twiddling my thumbs and watched this lot – and was very happy I did, cos they were immense. They ganged up and sang punk rock choruses like 4ft Fingers from back in the day, played the crowd amazingly and sweated like the proverbial paedophile at playtime. So, I was happy to see their new album arrive in my review pile this month.
The verdict on the record is: well, it’s good. It has nothing like the energy they did when I watched them, but they’ve given it a decent enough shot. This lot are proud to wear their influences on their sleeves – they aren’t proclaiming to be the new punk sound – just carrying on the tradition of their favourite bands. The songs are all simply crafted but big on the sing-a-long factor. The song they are whoring the most at the moment, ‘Last Orders’, apparently a song about drinking with your dad, confuses me because I don’t think it even begins to do the band justice – so if you see it on a dodgy sky music channel, beware – I think there are many better tunes on this album. If you do like it though, you’ll probably love the album.
I guess this lot really exist to prove to those stubborn middle aged guys that old-school punk can still be fresh in 2008. The album isn’t perfect, the production doesn’t quite do them justice and it’s all a little bit too smoothly done for what I know they are capable of, but it’s a good record by a good band.
Mike
