On the Front Line,
The CasualtiesI remember the first time I heard the name of ‘The Casualties’ and I believe it was an incident at the 2002 Warped Tour when a disgruntled fan threw a pint glass with the bands name emblazoned on it at New Found Glory. Now why you would want to waste a perfectly good pint glass and why this more ‘hardcore’ punk kid was watching NFG will remain a mystery, but it was the instigator for wanting to get to know the band whose fans had their own particular brand of militia. Which brings me to ‘On the Front Line’ 34 minutes of punk which… Well, which sounds the same.
If you are unfamiliar with the quartet they have been together for 13 years now (although the only original member left is lead vocalist Jorge) and this is their fifth LP and second on their label, ‘SideOneDummy’. The music is fast, furious and ferocious with more chanting and angry bastard moments than you can shake a stick at which is all well and good but they do it on every single one of the thirteen tracks, and after all, your eardrums can only take so many beatings. Take opener ‘On the front line’ for instance, it is a strong enough track with the thumping drums taking centre stage as the grinding guitars and growling vocals gradually take over, but you can now repeat as applicable for the remaining eleven efforts.
‘Leaders of Today’ is more of the same with a slightly laborious ending to the song making it feel a little prolonged while ‘Criminal Class’ is slightly darker (if you can call it that) to most of what is on the album. ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Us’ features a scorching bassline, but is dragged down again by ‘ Marching Joe’ which is another that tends to drag on through excessive and needless chorus repetitions. ‘Scarred for Life’ brings it back into the correct direction while two of the highlights prove to be the rapid fire ‘Media Control’ and ‘Death Toll’ which follows it up perfectly. The ironically named’ Punk Rock Tragedy’ could be seen as the most radio friendly track on the album as there seems something ultimately more light about it, but don’t fret, the grimy edge still remains.
Admittedly the Casualties are good at what they do, which is dirty gritty punk which will send any live crowd into a frenzy without a shadow of a doubt. There are some real crackers on here with the aforementioned ‘Media Control’ and ‘Death Toll’ holding their own with some style, but they get lost amongst simply one too many inferior tracks. The band must believe they have found a formula and are sticking to it religiously as all songs follow the same pattern. And for most listeners including myself, that simply isn’t quite good enough.
Jay
