Although this is the bands first official full length, they have been around now for a while and been bandying their home made CD’s, cassettes and EP’s for long enough to earn them hardcore support in there home state of Michigan. And it was at this point when No Idea decided to get involved and release these twelve tracks, and what a joy they are. The laziest comparisons involve combining the raggedness of the Lawrence Arms and Dillinger 4, but they manage to hold down their own and unsurprisingly, song subjects don’t vary too much from the proven we drink a lot and we’ll sing about it formula. But most importantly for us, it works and the disc is perfectly paced at 25 minutes, never bores and mostly excites.
From the growling tones of ‘Exit Signs’ to the dark and edgy ‘Satellite’ the sound never varies too much from the gritty southern punk sound the band perform so ably. While not attempting to win any awards for inventiveness, the band will inevitably go down a storm on the live scene. But one thing which the trio do hold in their armoury is the presence of an able bass player by the name of ‘Brian Beckwith’. He isn’t hidden, the bass is constantly heard and it adds an element too many bands miss out on, preferring to drown their sound in over played guitar lines for a polished sound. Thankfully North Lincoln avoid this and it is to their credit. The opening bass line on The Smiths cover ‘Jeanne’ is a delight and is continued on many other efforts and is a refreshingly complex insertion into the North Lincoln sound. In terms of the sound of the record, a big thumbs up also goes to producer Rob McGregor who amongst others has worked with the Grabass Charlestons and Against Me! with that familiar No Idea sound being present and correct from the off, and with this, “Truth is a Menace” is another positive notch on the indie labels bedpost.
For North Lincolns hardcore following, this is their first chance of getting hold of their bands material on a shiny disc for the first time. The lurching, grinding noise of North Lincoln is a solid if unspectacular journey of what can only be described as beer punk. It is lively, energetic and most importantly consistent. Truth is a Menace conveys the fun of getting arseholed without the hangover, and that can only be a good thing.
Jay
No Idea Records