Bloody hell, this was a surprise. I'd heard a couple of tracks before Not on Tour's self-titled album was finally released–the album having encountered a bit of a delay–and they intrigued me. I hadn't expected that the full-length would contain such power across its 16 tracks, which are delivered in less than 20 minutes total–quality, quantity and brevity. Marvelous!
I've not got a great knowledge of punk bands from Israel and this could well be the only album I own from a band from that country, so I am not in a position to give any insight into their scene or any other bands that they might be linked to. What I can say is that although there are elements within songs that are on the poppier side of hardcore, this really does bring to mind bands like Minor Threat, Circle Jerks and Uniform Choice. Not from sounding like them, but more from the attitude to the short, sharp blasts of sound that they manage to put across so well.
With a female vocalist who is reminiscent of Penelope Houston (the Avengers) and Laura Litter (Fabulous Disaster), spitting out words at a ferocious speed, this band certainly has a frontperson to fit right in with both the harder songs, as well as those that ease up on the pedal a bit and add a touch more melody.
The standout track is "Silly Thoughts," which is very much like the sort of message Minor Threat was conveying about thinking for yourself, and this is evident from the "use your head" refrain within the lyrics. There are some songs with titles and lyrics that could well have come from a younger person (I have no idea of the ages of the band members), including "Don't Touch My Stuff," as I'm not sure if this is a rant against parents or friends.
All in all, this is a decent debut album release from this four-piece, with the first half being the more thrashier, shorter songs moving into longer (only one over two minutes, though) tracks as the album progresses. It has all the essentials of what I enjoy listening to: good vocals; good guitar sound; good tunes; variations of pace and type of song; and a freshness that so many bands manage to avoid to their own detriment.