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"So I was listening to this awesome British hardcore band the other day..."

If I had a nickel for every time in the past 5 years I heard that, I couldn’t buy a Tootsie roll. That’s all about to change, however, as the latest export from across the pond has released a self-titled record that’s poised and ready to make them a force here in the states. Harkening back to the pissed off, stripped-down hardcore of the `80s, Walk the Plank offer up 7 tracks of quickly delivered, superbly executed hardcore music.

The songs may not offer a ton of deviation from each other, but with only 7 tracks in less than 20 minutes, it’s really not an issue that ever fully comes to fruition. There’s some quick guitar solos here and there that add some spice into the mix, as the scruffily delivered vocals hit harder by the minute. There’s genuine anger, genuine feeling in these songs that a lot of today’s hardcore bands could really take notice and benefit of. Leading into the album with some snare rolls and thick bass-lines, the album’s title track is a roaring three and a half minutes deeply rooted in rock ‘n’ roll rhythms. Once again however, it’s the vocals that truly give not only the song, but the entire record that extra kick in the ass it needs to really be impressive.

The first four tracks are pulled from their also self-titled 7’’, the last three from the band's demo, but it sounds fluid enough to be a record recorded all at the exact same time. There’s no difference in talent, no difference in sound or production; everything is tight and well-oiled, and the more you listen, the more impressed you’ll be by the guitarists. By and large they stick with a real gritty old-school punk sound, low tuning and lots of distortion, but the small breaks from that to let out a slick solo feels like a perfect fit each and every time.

I can only hope that more British bands will be following suit with blasts of old-school hardcore just like this. They’re pissed off, and they convey it in a musically competent fashion that makes their energy all the more engaging.



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    Posted by Flowbee on 2006-03-03 10:10:29

    Anchors, I'm not saying they aren't awesome. Sinking Ships is especially good. I just think it's getting a little nuts.

    Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-03-03 05:37:15

    Will,

    I hate defending the locust, becuase i hate defending _anything_, but the locust bite musically? I hate saying this but they're just insanely tight, and you know this if you've ever seen them live. And i think they write catchy songs, no matter if it lacks structure or not. And for me it has nothing to do with avant-garde what so ever.

    And i agree, Deep Wound does it better, but there's no denying seeing lärm is going to be fucking awesome. And just because someone does it better, does that mean that everyone else doing it doesn't matter?

    And dude, could you please just stop namedropping when there's no need for it? I mean, you're not really enlightning us about any sweet awesome bands, you're just namedropping contemporaries for the sake of it.

    But apparently man is the bastard invented power-violence, so what do i know?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 2, 2006 at 8:32 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Good British Hardcore Beecher Anyone?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 2, 2006 at 2:21 PM (EST)

    Yeah, but you see, Regulations and the Hives know how to do something called "write a song." The Locust are cool for some guys dressing up in costumes and messing with electronics and passing it off as "avant-garde," but musically, they bite.

    Also, Larm are cool but I'm going to say that they would have been better had they actually tuned their instruments. The detuned gimmick wears thin after a few songs, and you know, while early hardcore was noisy and everything, you could also discern some melody. A better band that did the same exact thing was Deep Wound.

    -Will

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 2, 2006 at 11:12 AM (EST)

    will, every time there is a british hc band mentioned you have your two cents without knowing what the fuck you are talking about. the british hardcore scene is far less trendy than all the lockin' out/faux gangsta/tough guy crap that seems to get more and more popular in the us every day so shut up, how do you know anything about the british hardcore scene?

    ps. foxy, the 2 pieces of hate 7"s so far are amazing all round!

    Posted by fox82 on 2006-03-02 09:38:18

    I blame Maddox for the pirate influence. He's more hardcore than all the current Victory bands put together. Except Darkest Hour, who are just as good.

    Posted by Anchors on 2006-03-02 02:29:14

    It would be fair to complain, if all of those bands weren't awesome. Especially Shipwreck, I can't get enough of that 7''.

    Posted by Flowbee on 2006-03-02 01:17:25

    Sounds like something worth checking out.

    But seriously, what is with all of the ship/pirate related hardcore bands these days? Sinking Ships, Shipwreck, Anchors Away and now Walk The Plank. This seafaring business is getting out of control.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 7:05 PM (EST)

    how appropriate anchors reviewed this :)

    Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-03-01 18:09:26

    Yes i do. I think they're a really fun band, so what? You like the hives, and i don't think you're never right about everything just because of that.

    You like regulations, they get upstaged by every single band they play with.

    Posted by the_other_scott on 2006-03-01 17:40:43

    will

    please don't ever put radiohead and coldplay in the same grouping again

    thanks,

    fans of music

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 4:52 PM (EST)

    Yeah, but you think the Locust are awesome, so...

    -Will

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 4:52 PM (EST)

    Yeah, but you think the Locust are awesome, so...

    -Will

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 11:52 AM (EST)

    Called Coldplay post-rock must be the funniest post on this board in years.

    Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-03-01 06:49:28

    Will for fucks sake...
    Anchors were talkin about HIMSELF. He didn't deny the british hardcore scene, he was simply stating that he hasn't really heard any really kickass british hardcore bands lately.

    Yeah, sure, there's a buttload of wannabe american bands in the uk, but there's some absolutley amazing ones too, that *GASP!' you probably don't know about. I've gone to see swedish thrash/crust bands in the uk many times because the shows are just absolutley amazing.

    I really had another point with this, but instead i'm just going to say:

    I am seeing Lärm and mob 47 in may.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 4:12 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Scores for the opening paragraph.

    Posted by Testiclese on 2006-02-28 14:33:04

    british hc huh

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 1:32 PM (EST)

    You gotta be kidding... Britain probably kickstarted the whole early 80's hardcore revival... The Stupids, Heresy, and Ripcord all started in the late 80's, and the Voorhees kept putting out awesome shit all through the 90's. Members of that band are now in The Horror, who are also better than this band.

    Britain has a really dissapointing music scene- mostly bland rip offs of American trend music (3rd wave ska and pop punk) or really bad post-rock (Coldplay and Radiohead), but there's actually some awesome underground stuff that probably is more popular in America than it is in Britain just because the British are without a doubt the trendiest people ever.

    -Will

    Posted by fox82 on 2006-02-28 12:36:11
    My Score:

    ...and you didn't even mention ex-members of this band and ex-members of that band! really good cd you should all own.

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