I discovered Vancouver hardcore punk band All Out Panic while listening to the very excellent Rocket From Russia podcast; I immediately froze as my ears absorbed the ripping track “Panic Attack” from one of the band’s earlier releases. Unfortunately, it appears I arrived a little late to the party as All Out Panic have recently called it a day. Nonetheless, I picked up a digital copy of their last recording, The Insanity Of Modern Life Continues, and let it rumble around my stereo a few times.

Make no mistake, this is punk rock with a capital P. If you prefer some of the more modern, mid-tempo stylings du jour, you probably won’t enjoy what All Out Panic have to offer. Absolutely frantic riffs and beats dominate a presentation of ten songs in 21 minutes, not far off from the likes of early D.R.I. or The Exploited. What impressed me most was the speed of the players; every song sounds like it’s about to fly off the road as the band stomp their gas pedal through the floor. The snare beat banged out on “Drone Strike” is one of the fastest I’ve heard in a while. Another strength of this album is the recording quality; these songs sound great! Sometimes I find myself less inclined to enjoy bands who go for the throwback approach and record things that sound like a demo -- on purpose -- because they want to make it seem as if it’s really 1982, but this isn’t the case here.

One of the shortcomings of The Insanity Of Modern Life Continues would have to be the runtime; I love fast songs that clock in around the two-minute mark, but I think maybe another two or three rippers would have really helped towards the end. Also, while I believe the vocal style used by the band is the correct one, it’s about the harshest my ears like to go and will make me spin the album a little less frequently than others in my collection.

Overall, this is a solid effort for those who enjoy their punk served fast, hard and unforgiving. And while All Out Panic may have packed it in, it’s still good to see modern acts keeping traditional punk up to date.

You can check out the album here.