Western Addiction

Western Addiction: CognicideCognicide (2005)
Fat Wreck Chords

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: InaGreendaseBrian
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on November 1st 2005Cognicide is secretly its own little time capsule. That's the conclusion I've reached upon hearing the album in question, Western Addiction's debut full-length. It was secretly buried in unmarked grounds some time in the early 1980s by the band and unearthed only recently by Fat Wreck Chords is more.

Cognicide is secretly its own little time capsule. That's the conclusion I've reached upon hearing the album in question, Western Addiction's debut full-length. It was secretly buried in unmarked grounds some time in the early 1980s by the band and unearthed only recently by Fat Wreck Chords is more or less my conspiracy theory. Because, like New Mexican Disaster Squad, with whom they released a split with last year on No Idea, the band disregards the past 20 years of hardcore punk -- this being a very good thing, mind you -- to draw blood straight from that era and the consequential likes of Minor Threat and moreso in WA's case, Damaged-era Black Flag. In turn, they've put together quite a good throwback record with rather spectacular songwriting, a very close second in its genre this year perhaps.

Bass line-heavy, pissed off, and political, Cognicide is sure to please even the more fickle of punk rock aficionados. Spitting out fits of outrage in under 22 minutes, the biggest strength of the record really does lie in its songwriting despite its classically-constructed musical senses. The band scatters proper nouns throughout that will hopefully spur a bout of informational research by listeners. Some bands tend to misuse metaphor and thus sound far above the listener's head; here, WA construct them in an invitingly revolutionary way despite their highly intelligent build with lines like "so forget husbandry and no more baking bread / one careless crow, now I'm fucking infected."

Standouts include the anthemic "The Church of Black Flag," a not-so-subtle tribute of sorts, the charged opener "Charged Words," and the beautifully sloppy closing to the album in "Animals and Children" with gang vocals admitting "I prefer the company of animals and children to adults so I won't have to give up hope." However, there are plenty of enjoyable moments over the short course of the disc, and all of them manage to find their time to shine in between traded off shouts, frenetic bass lines, charring guitars, a drummer who knows when to mix things up, and nary a breakdown to slow things down.

All in all, Western Addiction's Cognicide is a very good release of the left-field variety. It's hardcore punk with something truly genuine to say, and words that should resonate well with anyone fed up with trends or a piss poor interpretation of modern revivalism.

MP3
Mailer, Meet Jim

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

jennifertom (November 4, 2008)

Now in its second year, the Rosa Parks Science Discovery Project at Rosa Parks Elementary School in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood is the brainchild of UCSF third-year pharmacy student Ashish Patel, who fondly remembers the fifth-graders’ reaction last year. “The look in the students’ eyes is just amazing. When they see lettuce or celery frozen by liquid nitrogen crumble to the floor, or when they realize how science relates to life, you can just see the wonder in their eyes.”
After learning about the lack of science education at Rosa Parks Elementary, Patel and his colleagues decided to modify the high school-level outreach program he had developed to fit the elementary school level
-------------------------------
jennifertom

Drug Rehabs

muthu (October 30, 2008)

This CD is for anyone who loves todays punkrock with 80s hardcore influence. NMDS is like no other. awesome cd. awesome lyrics. great message in their songs.
---------------------
Muthu

Drug Rehabs

Anonymous (January 25, 2006)

I just picked this up. Fucking great. Best album of '05 for me.

...evildeadalive

Anonymous (January 24, 2006)

and 20% of what else? retard cant even do maths

FuckYouOiOiOi (November 20, 2005)

I just got this album today and its awesome. It doesn't really sound just like 80's hardcore like I expected. Its more like 70% 80's hardcore, and 10% modern hardcore.

Anonymous (November 14, 2005)

Fucking brutal. Excellent shit.

hein (November 4, 2005)

Indeed a terrific album. People already mentioned this, but this and the last Paint It Black albums are definitely the best things that were released this year in this category. 7 Seconds was also great of course, but for me belongs in a different category of older hardcore punk.

Dante3000 (November 3, 2005)

The only lube you get is Parkay.
-Dante

AlmostPunkEnough (November 3, 2005)

i'm a 'mutual bitch'????

YES!!! omg, how i've longed for this day. now, the both of you get out your leashes and we're gonna have a tug of war. and don't NOT forget the lube.

Godfather (November 3, 2005)

really short but really good

TheOneTrueBill (November 3, 2005)

Holy shit, I just got done listening to the stream of this and I'm definitly buying it first chance I get.

Dante3000 (November 2, 2005)

Almostpunkenough will give it up...even if he doesn't want to he will...I swear to god.
-Dante

Anonymous (November 2, 2005)

"agreed, plus numerous good releases by bands on Havoc/No Idea/625 etc."

Don't forget the new LACK OF INTEREST LP - best record of 2005, thank you very much.

-Ken

stevejonestherealbones (November 2, 2005)

LIAR!!!

you will care....and then, our mutual bitch, almostpunk, will definately cry...he may never give it up to you again if he finds out it was you

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Dante3000 (November 2, 2005)

Jones...I'll kill you, and no one will care.
-Dante

Anonymous (November 2, 2005)

I'm listening to this streamed, and i'm just thinking Black Flag i am also thinking, Excellent.

stevejonestherealbones (November 2, 2005)

dante,

who have to have friends before you can have "friends that listen to punk"

OOHHHHHHH MODED!!!!

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Dante3000 (November 2, 2005)

Totally the no lube way...So happy.
Plus
Anyone going to WA Cd release show this friday? It'll be the shit! But I don't wanna go alone.
Why do none of my friends listen to punk?
-Dante

Anonymous (November 2, 2005)

Western Addiction - Cognicide
Posted by skankin_in_the_pit on 2005-11-02 15:01:25
My Score:

This has been a great year for old school hardcore punk bands. Great stuff from Paint It Black, Kill Your Idols, Regulations, Retching Red, Assholeparade, Bones Brigade (7" anthology cd), Western Addiction, Adolescents, and 7 Seconds. Plus all the bands that are probably pretty awesome that Will has heard that I haven't.

agreed, plus numerous good releases by bands on Havoc/No Idea/625 etc.

AlmostPunkEnough (November 2, 2005)

dante, cry like when we don't use lube? or cry in a bad way?

i just found my old copy of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being Drunk" i'll be listening to it on my way to work after i run through this album and some Lagwagon again.

skankin_in_the_pit (November 2, 2005)

This has been a great year for old school hardcore punk bands. Great stuff from Paint It Black, Kill Your Idols, Regulations, Retching Red, Assholeparade, Bones Brigade (7" anthology cd), Western Addiction, Adolescents, and 7 Seconds. Plus all the bands that are probably pretty awesome that Will has heard that I haven't.

Dante3000 (November 2, 2005)

People hate what they can't understand hence Goober Patrol....Sure...Anyhow, so Jason of WA said that this was the $6,000 review, the $10,000 one is saved for bands like Lagwagon and Propaghandi, as you can see.
Also, this band if filled with complete dorks...good guys but dorks.
Finally, I got this album, Propaghandi, Lagwagons, "24 Hour Roadside resistance" and "Cee-lo Greens Perfect Imperfections" all for $30 dollars...I'm so excited I might cry.
-Dante

AlmostPunkEnough (November 2, 2005)

why does everyone hate on Goober Partol so much? sure they sound like they may have an extra chromosome, but i loved that shit back in the day when i was slightly stupider than i am now.

also, i've decided this is the best album in months to rock out to like an asshole while sitting in traffic on the Cross Bronx. though i may slam into someone on purpose because of it.

Anonymous (November 2, 2005)

i think people are baffled cuz fat has been on a roll with the lawrence arms and against moi! and dillinger four, then this. this band is the goober patrol of hardcore. now does it make sense?

Mute98 (November 2, 2005)

i love this cd.. so badass

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

am i missing something about fat? why is it so hard for people to believe that this is onn the label?

davebrave4 (November 1, 2005)

Someone tell me why they're on Fat.

jamespastepunk (November 1, 2005)

Hmmm...I'll check this out for sure.

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

I meant to say "on this album."

I've heard the split... It was okayish, I guess.

-Will

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

"If you have no idea what they sound like, how can you say there are better old school bands out there?"

theyre underground, so they must be better.

Flowbee (November 1, 2005)

Is "Mailer, Meet Jim" a reference to 28 Days Later? I'm thinking so.

Either way, these guys are good but they are not as good as New Mexican Disaster Squad.

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

If you have no idea what they sound like, how can you say there are better old school bands out there?

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

I have this album in que on Soulseek. I have no idea what they sound like, and it's on Fat, so it's behind Contrast Attitude from Japan and the non-American DS-13 LP's.

I don't wanna "start shit," but I personally think there are way better old-school sounding bands around today. Not old-school as in Judge, YoT, either. I just think it's too underground to be well recognized.

-Will

GlassPipeMurder (November 1, 2005)

I love this album. 12 songs in 21 minutes. The lyrics are fuckin' wicked too.

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

I bet they wish Honest Dons was still around for shit like this.

Dante3000 (November 1, 2005)

And yet, my whoring story about my interview today never got posted...I smell haterism, or just that it wasn't fit to be a real story...You Decide!
Still, I love what I've heard of this and I'm hopping to get a copy before the interview today to avoid looking totally out of the loop.
-Dante
P.S. Jsason is a remarkably cool guy in my dealings thus far, I don't care if he got signed because he works at Fat, good ass band.
P.P.S. Almostpunkenough is full of shit, that bastard gave me crabs first. As for hookers I kill all of mine afterwards, so they can't spread my VD.

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

Unexpected coolness.

superdude (November 1, 2005)

This review was pretty good, but here's how I would make it better:

1. That girl is in danger! Is there any clues as to what happens to her?

2. The people from the Church of Black Flag always come knocking on my door. Jeez hey piss me off.

3. Shouldn't they be on Tooth and Nail?

AlmostPunkEnough (November 1, 2005)

if not for Lagwagon, i may be listening to this non-stop, this shit is fucking awesome. makes me wanna fuck the volume knob on my speakers or something, the energy is sick. Fat's been really on lately, regardless of whether any of these dudes work for them.

jones never uses a rubber with me, i'm special. and yea, dante gave me syphilis.

psychoos231 (November 1, 2005)

Interesting

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

I love this album. If this is their first album, how did they get signed to Fat? this stuff is good

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

"whens that guy gonna come here and say how crappy this band is cause they work at fat and got signed, but in fact the guy is only pissed that fat wont sign his crappy band...."

almost makes sense except this shit still sucks. and you nearly got away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

whens that guy gonna come here and say how crappy this band is cause they work at fat and got signed, but in fact the guy is only pissed that fat wont sign his crappy band....

gladimnotemo (November 1, 2005)

I dig the last twenty years of hardcore. Retro is now a trend? I don't know.

I say this liking the songs I've heard from this band, but it's hard to gauge their dedication. First album on Fat?

p-fresh (November 1, 2005)

Cannot stop listening to this record. AT all.

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

Definitely a lot of Black Flag-influence here. I'd really enjoyed this release. Kind of like a throwback to the 80s. Just straight up no-frills punk rock.

Ramo

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

The NMDS and WA split is crucial. I'm hoping this will be as good.

OC

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

hardcore is the new EpiFat punk. It's popular now and these guys are a little late, yer supposed to cop the NEXT big thing. maybe ska will come back.

TheOneTrueBill (November 1, 2005)

Get some rubbers too Jones, you don't know where those whores've been. Shit, they might've even done DANTE.

Anonymous (November 1, 2005)

This shit sucks.

stevejonestherealbones (November 1, 2005)

tomorrow i go to the store for this, the briefs, the bomb, and a whore...maybe more

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com