Throw Rag - 13Ft. and Rising
To say the number of bands operating under the loosely defined 'punk' genre is a tad on the high side nowadays is kind of like confirming to your average hardened metal fan that Ozzy is indeed God; there is just no need. What is a massively fluctuating whole other can of worms, however, is the quality of these bands. For every Rancid or Bad Religion operating in the upper echelons there is always going to be twice as many New Found Glorys or Sum 41s scraping the scum off of Sid Vicious's metaphorical steel toe cap. Equally, somewhere in the middle of this fluctuating Mobius strip of quality can be found literally hundreds upon hundreds of bands that are, well to be frank, plain average. Nothing to provoke a bout of self harm but indeed nothing to persuade anyone to don the bovver boots and braces and to go out for a damn good pogo; Throw Rag are one of these bands...
...Okay so maybe not all of that is totally fair as, whilst rather disappointingly average, the band's latest offering and third full-length album, '13ft and Rising,' isn't completely all out punk. There are other influences at work and for every other four chord punk thrasher, such as 'Swingset Superman,' there is a straight out Wildhearts-esque rocker like 'Radio Romantica.' However at the core does indeed lay old lady punk herself but what ultimately and regardless of anything else seems to resign this album to more slow waltz than slam dance is a distinct lack of, firstly, effort and, secondly, soul. Songs like 'Sex War,' which while harmless enough and certainly better than the latest James Blunt, are really just mid-paced fillers with no defining hook, groove or reason to be loved. This sort of music should be reaching down from the speakers to grab the listener by the balls with one hand whilst shoving a bottle of Jagermeister down their throat with the other, not letting go until they are slumped against a wall messing themselves and singing the salty sailor. On that score this unfortunately just doesn't deliver.
For as much as this album disappoints, it would definitely be wrong to say that there isn't anything of any redeeming quality to be found. Ironically when Throw Rag tone things down a notch, proceedings take a noticeable upturn. The almost Doors-esque 'Sad Girl' is a highlight but clearly not the overall sound they are striving for. However the final nail in the coffin and probably of most detriment to Throw Rag and this album, is the fact that the most interesting aspect is the rather impressive list of cameo appearances, including both Motorhead's Lemmy and ex-Dead Kennedy, Jello Biafra. The band clearly saving up their best output to impress their illustrious friends as both of the songs they appear on, 'Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down' and the largely spoken word 'Children Of The Secret State' respectively, are the best songs here. However these appearances are ultimately shining lights just too dim, as '13ft and Rising' never quite delivers consistently enough to warrant placing it anywhere other than the dreaded realms of musical mediocrity.