Ahh, Buzzkill. I can think of no better way than introducing them than to lift this directly from the boys themselves: “They have what annoying retards refer to as ‘horns and shit’. That means a saxophone and trumpet, but you can leave your braces at home rude boy, they aint ska.” What they are is a combination of your atypical Leeds-esque punk rock sound (75 per cent) which squares off firmly against something ska-core, in the vein of Capdown.
Driven By Loss is 32 minutes worth of gritty yet remarkably non-angry vocals against a backdrop of trumpet and saxophone interplay, with some minimally distorted guitar for company. Opening track ‘Once a liar’ is solid, yet early on the vocals are so subordinated that you kind of lose the characteristically gritty effect that personifies them. Most of the tracks on the album are done pretty well, but none jump out at me slap your face with that ‘wow’ factor.
Track 12 ‘The Joke’ reminded me of The Hives during its intro, for some reason, yet quickly scampers off into a Teletubby meadow where the speakers which pop up play nothing but The Suicide Machines‘ discography on loop. The title track makes its appearance last and gives a slightly different, higher-pitched spin on the vocals which combining with its anthemic “Fuck you!” chant forms a curious yet likeable vocal pattern. Oh, and I love the guitar solo; quite why this was placed last I’m not sure.
Punk rock, good musicianship and that quality which says it’s easy to imagine their live performance being a visual riot. You could certainly do worse.
www.myspace.com/buzzkill
Spud