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I don’t know a whole lot about the fine state of New Hampshire, but I’d wager to guess that their state motto is not in fact “turn up the suck.” An odd choice for an album titled from New Hampshire State Motto, because this album does anything but.

Rip roaring through nine songs in 18 minutes, these guys have a firm handle on playing some great melodic punk rock. Melodic, yes, but there’s quite a decent amount of bite to be felt in these songs, and it’s heavy without ever being overpowering.

Starting it up with some speedy drum fills, “G8” launches right into some tight riffing and politically minded lyrics. This is not a band who’s afraid to speak their mind, and each and every song makes it just that much more evident. The band's vocalist sounds not unlike Tony Sly of No Use for a Name fame, with his melodic rallying cries and strong, clear voice. The melody does not come at cost of any of the real grit on the record, and “Tearin’ Up the Charts” makes it more than clear. A harsh critique of the music industry and its practices, the song carries a bit harder of an edge than many others on the record. The vocalist sounds positively pissed off, giving his words a bit of gravity they may not otherwise have held.

Making a third terrific song in a row, “Campout in DC” opens with some shredding clean guitar, before bringing on the distortion and pummeling drum fills to really attack the senses. The melodic undercurrents don’t compromise the integrity of the hard edge the band is going for, instead only solidifying the album with an important bit of diversity. “Money Doesn’t By Everything” and “Ron Eats Breakfast with the Hell of All Nations” further puts the political stamp on the record, in keeping with their harsh punk attack.

Essentially No Use for a Name with a political message, New Hampshire State Motto have drafted a hard hitting and informed, albeit somewhat forgettable record with Turn Up the Suck.






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    Posted by mattack on 2006-04-26 11:06:04

    My brother sounds NOTHING like Tony Sly.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 24, 2006 at 11:48 PM (EDT)

    Terry and Dean are my heros. Woman is a danger cat.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 24, 2006 at 5:51 PM (EDT)

    Fubar rules balls. "I was just thinkin' to myself how I wanted to shit through six minutes of shit." "Yo-yo fuckin' blows." "More cheers, more beers man, that's it that's all."

    Posted by GreenVandal on 2006-04-24 01:21:47

    You...really...like...periods.

    Badass band name though. I'm gonna name my band New Jersey state motto. I dont know what New Jersey's state motto is, but if it's the garden state (even though it's more of a swamp) it probably has something about tomatoes in it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 10:45 PM (EDT)

    you are all right.. i lost my head there for a minute..hahaha

    Posted by ryanbolger on 2006-04-23 01:58:53

    how could you dare to neglect mentioning the fleetwood macs and the against me's!?

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 1:15 AM (EDT)

    "but we decided after the hives, the white stripes, the faint, the bronx, the buoyies, and the mick daverson 12 we didnt want a band name that started with an indefinite article."

    How can you blame those bands? I blame posers like the Beatles, the Clash, the Lawrence Arms, the Oath, and the Body for ruining "the."

    -Will

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 22, 2006 at 9:20 PM (EDT)

    its not like we are implying our own version of the state motto ... turn up the suck is the name of the album... in fact.. tearin up the charts, track 3 was originally the title track till we decided title tracks fucking blow. so the idea is.. our band thinks a la nhsm.. live free or die - if people cant have freedom.. theyre better off dead..thats the severity of the situation.. the cd is called turn up the suck because were using punk rock.. "an inferior" form of music.. loud , shitty, fast, obnoxious, and bringing to the surface a lot of bullshit that doesnt usually get a place in the music media arena, or any media arena for that matter... and that stuff were turning up onto the surface is politics and all that other cool punk rock shit thats awesome to whine about... i guess this whole scenario isnt so easily thought through at first read but hopefully this helped a little..

    at one point we did consider dropping the bulk and going to "the motto" but we decided after the hives, the white stripes, the faint, the bronx, the buoyies, and the mick daverson 12 we didnt want a band name that started with an indefinite article. i hope ive been informative.. long day.. bit scattered

    Posted by istapledmyfoot on 2006-04-22 20:25:03

    this is a good review but I can't stand the phrase "these guys aren't afraid to speak their mind etc. etc.", as if that's somehow unique. Are there bands who are afraid to speak their mind?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 22, 2006 at 4:50 PM (EDT)

    Well, NH is the one 69ing Vermont, just above Massachusetts.

    The real state motto as someone said before is "Live Free Or Die"

    Adam Sandler is from around here

    Home of the Segway and the portable dialysis machine

    And the only place on earth you can say "leaf peeping" and not sound like a fucking retard.

    Now you know something about New Hampshire.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 22, 2006 at 4:25 PM (EDT)

    Rooney likes New Hampshire State Motto

    Posted by Icapped2pac on 2006-04-21 19:23:18

    I love the album title. That, the comments, and the review tell me that I should this out right fucking now.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 5:35 PM (EDT)

    Nice to see this get reviewed here..nice guys who definitely deserve it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 2:53 PM (EDT)

    LIVE FREE OR DIE

    This band is jawesome

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 2:31 PM (EDT)

    FUBAR=Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 1:00 PM (EDT)

    what the fuck is a fubar?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 10:57 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    This band makes me want to shred concrete and punch pigs in da face! Alright!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 10:48 AM (EDT)

    dunno fubar.. turn up the suck was something that caught on after someone yelled it out at a show a few years ago.

    TONY SLY.. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 10:37 AM (EDT)

    the new hampshire state motto really is badass. i don't think anyone in the whole country fucking lives by it though.

    Posted by ryanbolger on 2006-04-21 06:28:25

    fubar sucks, watch american movie.

    Posted by the_ken_chin_imposter on 2006-04-21 01:57:38

    "Turn up the good, turn down the suck. You really got suck knob cranked to 10 farell"

    Nice Fubar reference. I didn't know anyone outside of Alberta had even seen it.

    Posted by colin on 2006-04-21 00:33:31

    live free or die

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