Household Name Records are one of the UK’s leading independent punk and hardcore labels, home to such leading lights in the UK punk scene as Capdown, Captain Everything and Five Knuckle. Constant touring and a phenomenal work rate ensure their success and expansion. One of the lesser known bands on the label, Antimaniax, are slowly establishing themselves with their brand of hard hitting skate punk and straight edge attitude.
The Antimaniax, despite being signed to HHN, actually hail from Austria. Following Scandinavian hardcore luminaries F-Minus into the public consciousness, their sound is a curious one. Combining lightning fast drumming with abstract, but highly melodic guitar work and vocals from the entire band on every song, a la Brand New or Catch 22, they manage to sound like everybody and nobody throughout the 30 minutes of this, their biggest record to date.
The first track sounds scarily like Brand New covering Catch 22 songs (a comparison which, as I already mentioned, is evident throughout) and appears straightforward punk rock until the lyrics are given a closer inspection. They consist of a recipe for, I am assuming by the title of the track, Chilli Con Tofu! Points for originality guys, but i’m not entirely sure if the words of Delia Smith et al lend themselves to punk songs! Still, ten out of ten for effort.
Like Propaghandi or Anti Flag, Antimaniax riddle their songs with Socio-Political lyrics, messages and sermons. Unlike the aforementioned bands, however, the message isn’t always clear. OK, so we can all read the lyrics sheet and find out exactly what they are singing about, but it does lose some of its effect this way. Where as on records such as Propaghandi’s “Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes†the words and meaning are not lost in the blaze of hardcore melody (if that isn’t an oxymoron!), ‘As Long As People Think’ is a little weak. For example, on ‘Good Terror’, the spoken words of Noam Chomsky are barely audible and this idea doesn’t really work sandwiched into the record as it is.
Luckily, when it does work, like on the driving, anthemic ‘Who’s War Is It?’ and the rousing ‘We Raise Ya’, the Antimaniax are a joy to behold. Mixing the sound of New York Hardcore, past and present, with lashings of enthusiasm and well thought out, but ultimately restricted political ideas they emerge with a sound that despite being very familiar, is an enjoyable enough listen.
The main problem with this record is it doesn’t have its own sound. Good Riddance, Refused, F-Minus, Propaghandi, H20 …. They are all here. AS much as I hate to harp on about how much one band sound like another, in the case of Antimaniax, it is utterly unavoidable. This is not to say that it is a sub-standard record. Far from it. A highly competent album from an obviously passionate and talented band is what we have here. Unfortunately, it has all been done before … but seen as it sounded so good the first time round, it can’t hurt to go through it all again, can it?
Ross