East London’s Route215 have been kicking around for a bit. Their last release got 5 stars on PT, because it was defined as a definitive UK pop-punk album. It was full of hooks, and lines and lyrics that you could get your teeth stuck into, and it was loved by pop-punk fans by and large. So when I heard their second full length album was being released late summer I thought I’d be in for more of the same. Man, was I ever wrong.
If you liked the last Route215 album, there’s a good possibility that you might be undecided about this one. It’s not so much pop punk, as it is pure rock. It’s not even ponce rock like Creed or Hoobastank, it’s proper, balls out, foot on monitor Motley Crue. It’s very, very different.
The tracks on it vary. Sometimes original singer/bassist Rod takes the vocal duties. Sometimes guitarist Ryan does. They’re not totally different, they’re not totally the same. But they’re both gritty and a lot of this album is pure, falling-face-first-into-the-tarmac grit. Some of the voices are put through old school radio style effects, and it perfectly captures the 1980s rock sound, adding an edge to the songs that you can’t help but feel might have lacked otherwise. I’m not saying it totally alters the vocals, I’m saying it gives some of these songs that tiny little something, that tiny extra half a star that goes into a review score, that tiny little edge that changes the way you consider the record, but all these tiny little edges add up, and can create monsters. The guitars are all recorded in E flat, giving it some more crunch and strength, and I can’t get enough of it. There aren’t many records like this that are both gritty and accessible. Your dad would have a lot of respect for Shock ‘Em Dead, and so should you, because it’s not only a homage to the bands that existed when dad had a leather jack and went out “courting†at the “Discothequeâ€, it embraces a lot of recent releases also. Did I mention Mike Herrera of MXPX does some guest vocals on this album? I don’t think I did, so I think I’ll run it by you again. Mike Herrera of MXPX has guest starred on a UK release. Yeah, took a while for it to sink in for me too, and now it has I can appreciate what he adds to the track he appears on. It’s very clever, and very cool, something that you can pick up from every single filthy, sleazy, cock-rock track on here.
It’s not often I’m impressed with lyrics. A few words here about a broken heart, a few words there about a bad day in your life, blah blah. But one of the strongest points of this album is the fantastic “FUCK YOU†essence within. Lyrics about running from debts, lyrics about brawling, lyrics about suffering at the hands of cops, You could believe me if I told you Route215 are rockstars. And not only the lyrics are rock, the drums are 100% bosh-bash as well. They’re powerful and fluid, and it came as no surprise that while they’re reasonably simple, they’re played by Fastlane sticksman Gary.
So what else is going on this album that I haven’t covered in the 500 words above? The fact they cover “Jailbreak†by none other than Phil Lynott’s “Thin Lizzyâ€. The fact the whole CD flows like a dirty oil slick in a bay full of seals, the fact that Mybe, Cousin Luke, The Bombjacks, Mcqueen, My Dad Joe and Chocfact guest on the album in one way or another, and the fact that if you didn’t know me any better, you’d say I liked this a lot. And I do, and so should you, this is a 2005 Rock masterpiece. If you’d never heard of Route215 you’d think they played massive stadiums with aftershow parties where they snorted cocaine out of supermodel’s arse cracks, and they don’t come over as total arrogant wannabes either. And if you thought they were, they wouldn’t give a fuck. Maybe they are rockstars and we’ve all been too busy looking over the pond for our heroes to realise they’re right here in front of us, releasing CD’s and touring as frequently as they can, with a big middle finger pointed right at people who would dismiss this album (and the new direction it has within it) as crap, simply because it’s not pop punk. In essence, I guess this album was put together with them in mind, and I’m very grateful for those people, thank you, because you’ve made one of my favourite bands, release what is undoubtedly one of my favourite records. Unmissable.
Lurch