Blacklisted – ‘When People Grow, People Go’

The path of Philadelphia hardcore band Blacklisted has not been one easily tread over the course of the last 10 years or so. The band has suffered turmoil, member changes, and several break ups that would ultimately give birth to a back catalogue of releases filled with despair. The backbone of the band is in front man George Hirsch’s deeply personal and introspective lyrics, in which he has poured his heart and soul into every song Blacklisted have ever written. After yet another extended period of absence between albums, the band has now returned with their fourth full length ‘When People Grow, People Go’, and with only two EP’s since their last album ‘No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me’ in 2009 – all of which have been vastly different in terms of sound – understandably the hardcore community has been nervously waiting to see what they come up with next.

As the minor chords of ‘Insularized’ build into ‘Turn In The Pike’ it is immediately evident that this is vintage Blacklisted. The vocals are absolutely ferocious, with the music being more frantic than they have sounded in years, harking back to the unrelenting nature of their critically acclaimed 2008 album ‘Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God’. Always ones to push the boundaries of their sound, they utilise some of the slower groove that has been present on their output in recent years on ‘Riptide’ in which Hirsch sounds completely engaged in every word he is uttering.

In keeping with a time honoured tradition in hardcore, the songs flow thick and fast, with an average length of under two minutes, but that is all Blacklisted need to get their point across. ‘Deeper Kind’ and ‘Gossamer’ read like diary entries from nights spent in anguish, while ‘Burnt Palms’ clearly pays homage to the legendary Right Brigade and affirms that while they may venture into other territories they never lose sight of their hardcore roots.

The slow burning ‘Foreign Observer’ sees an appearance from Cold World drummer Nick WOJ, and employs thick guitar riffs reminiscent of Only Living Witness and has one of the few “choruses” so to speak on the album. However there are no half measures with Blacklisted and when they do something, they do it right, which shows the diversity in Hirsch’s vocal attack that he has been honing for years. As ‘When People Grow, People Go’ begins to draw to a close with the savagely furious ‘Calendars’ and the reckless abandon of ‘Bottle Rockets’ you begin to feel the darkness of the album clouding your brain, taking in every moment of sorrow until the traumatic lament of “Too proud to reach out when I was dying” of the title track lingers until the final moments of the album.

The time Blacklisted take to write music, and the effort they put in to make everything perfect is a testament to their creative ability, rather than falling into the trap of releasing sub-standard records on a regular basis. The wait has been worth it though, because by taking elements of what they do best and still pushing themselves further into their own world, ‘When People Grow, People Go’ is undoubtedly the definitive Blacklisted record.

GLEN BUSHELL