When you’re looking for bands pushing at the boundaries of what the radio tells us is acceptable, you can trust Household Name to release records that are not only interesting and enjoyable, but also doing something quite different. And with Suicide Bid, ‘The Rot Stops Here’ is another of those records you can file under the ‘essential listening’ category. 12 tracks of deep dub-punk reggae, this is definitely not something I would usually go out of my way to listen to, but as usual I found myself strangely drawn to this record and have given it repeated listens – even after my ‘review listening’ was finished.
Suicide Bid‘s socially aware politically-tinged punk sound is very easy to like. With guest appearances from the likes of Sonic Boom Six (‘Laila’s appearance on ‘Rudeboy Return’ is one of the album’s more standout moments), The King Blues, The Filaments and The Foamers, there’s a real cast collected from some of the UK’s finest talents. One criticism I usually have of political bands is how they try and use their politics – and while ‘Torch Guantanamo Bay’ touches on a very obvious lyrical matter, it’s not condescending or lacking in any punch. I dislike band’s that preach and Suicide Bid don’t go down this route.
As a result, the reggae-tinged ‘Give It Up’ and the more forceful ‘Stars O’er The Stirling’ shine out from this record. And while it may not quite reach The King Blues high standards, in terms of breaking out from the norm, Suicide Bid have come out with an album guaranteed to have The Lock Up salivating for months to come.