Fallout 40-Attain to a Calm E.P
I must say, it is refreshing to hear punk-rock music created by a U.K group and not want to throw it in the pile with the rest of the Rancid/Green Day try-hards I hear so much of nowadays. It is clear from the offing of this mini-album that these guys are part of that rare breed of musicians who just want to rock out. There is no sense of arrogance or imitation, just some artists putting all their energy into making solid, first-rate music.
Now this country is not exactly anaemic for any new rock and roll blood, it has great bands spilling out of every orifice, which is why it is so hard to make a dent nowadays, but I really think with the right folks pricking their ears up and taking some serious notice, these guys could charge their way through, blood curdlingly screaming as they go.
Perplexing as the diverse titles of these songs are, you can’t argue with the city-flattening riffs of "Hell’s Bastard" or "Bravestar Invasion", and you wouldn’t DARE argue with the ear-splitting vocals on "Dark Inertia" either. The group even show diversity with the gentle chords of "New Beginnings", showing that they absolutely could do stand and listen rock if they wanted to.
Now it’s terribly hard to comment on lyrical achievements when you are confronted by, for the majority, a mass of throat ripping expressions rather than gracious melodies, but if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say these guys were very mad at their parents or something…Now now boys, I’m only joking! I am fully aware of your Nazi hating, stagnation abhorring, shitty people detesting, anti-Bush stance, liar loathing and death coping you are portraying here, now put your fists back in your pockets and have some strepsils for crying out loud!
But no, seriously these guys do work; the vocalist has a really good tone to his voice, and they show all the way through this album a flagrant disregard for any kind of replica, silly boys and their six-string toys, cock-rock fluff. And I like it.