If there’s one way to instantly hook the listener in as they slot your new record into the CD player, it’s to open with a Simpsons quotation! Nelson’s little diatribe on shoplifting raises a smile before the Antimaniax have even picked up their instruments and unless you hate the Simpsons (Yes, all 5 of you) then you’re going to feel instantly enamoured with this record even before a note has been played.
Luckily, it’s not a case of ‘downhill from there’ as ‘Desert Of Concrete’ is 25 minutes of top quality skacore from deepest Austria. Their first release on Household Name, ‘As Long As People Think’ passed a good many people by when it was released, but with the staple Household Name diet of regular touring and playing in any venue that will take them, they have made quite a name for themselves. So much so that I’m pretty sure there was at least 1 Antimaniax T-shirt at every gig I went to over the past 12 months. Well, ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but either they sell a hell of a lot of merch or there’s a secret T-shirt trading society going on that I don’t know about.
The excellently titled ‘Don’t Steal Because The Government Hates Competition’ kicks off proceedings with it’s brooding bass driven intro leading into a skankerific opening verse peppered with the Antimaniax‘s trademark gang vocals that light up the record. Much like country-mates and label mates RedLightsFlash, AntiManiax use creative time changes and breakdowns to awesome effect and at times, the bands often sound one and the same. In fact, ‘the opening to ‘Symbol’ sounds pretty much identical to RLF’s ‘Contaminate The Unison’. I suspect this was done deliberately, however, as the two bands are very close, but there are moments on ‘…Desert of Concrete’ where the similarities are less deliberate but no less evident, especially on the vocal side of things and the intro to ‘I Can Smell My Freedom’, which could be mistaken for a RedLightsFlash song by their own mothers, I imagine. There must be something in the water over in Austria!
While recently I have become increasingly jaded with ska bands and the self-parodying nature of the ska scene, this is still a hugely enjoyable release, which must mean that anyone who absolutely loves their skacore will probably fall in love with these 8 little songs. While there’s nothing that quite tops the genius of ‘Chilli Con Tofu’, there’s enough quality skacore to satisfy even the most fervent of fans. The eye-watering ‘Freedumb’, painfully danceable title track and the Suicide Machines-esque sounds of ‘In Front Of Our Eyes‘ are all highlights and continuously melt intelligent lyrics, schizophrenic guitar work and inspiring vocals to create songs that cry out to be experienced live.
On record, Antimaniax lose something that they have in abundance on stage, but don’t let that put you off. ‘I’m Without Sleep… In This Desert Of Concrete’ is an enthralling journey through social and political issues backed up with some quality skacore instrumentation. Yet another quality release from our very own Household Name Records!
Ross