Posted on August 4, 2010 - by Editor

Album Reviews: Street Dogs/ Trevolt/ Refuse Resist

Street Dogs
Street Dogs
Hellcat Records

I have always enjoyed Street Dogs, their albums have been socially and politically conscious filled records full of Clash like inspired anthems whilst singer Mike McColgan is rarely upstaged live in delivering a quality nostalgic performance with the merry Dogs (bassist Johnny Rioux, guitarists Marcus Hollar and Tobe Bean III and drummer Paul Rucker) in tow. With this self titled release, which the band described as their best yet, I had high hopes but honestly after the first few listens I wasn’t blown away.  The songs were short, ferocious and yes “rabble-rousing” with plenty of anthems (‘The Shape of Other Men’, ‘Punk Rock and Roll’) but it seemed to lack the stand out songs that previous records like “State Of Grace” had delivered. However the band still write mostly on personal and relevant contemporary issues such as Mike’s beloved unions (‘Up The Union’), the current economic climate (‘Hang Em High’), conflict and fire-fighters and they shift the pace from breakneck punk throwdowns to slower sing alongs (‘Bobby Powers’).  I think it might have been after about five or six listens in and during the lyrics on the slow start (before the infectious sing along) kick on ’10 Wood Road’ that a smile broke on my face in appreciation. This is indeed a very personal record and written for themselves firstly  and for all to enjoy second; as albums should be in my opinion. Although I still don’t think the album has as many stand out ‘hits’, the maturing process of the band and the album on myself was one I admire. It will be interesting to see what fans make of the record, it is not a shift of direction by any means, but Street Dogs have delivered in improving on what they have always done and put together a complete record, and that my friends is progress and signs of a band that is happy in its own space.

I All Hast
Trevolt
Heptown Records

Trevolt is a three piece punk rock band hailing from Sweden, and I like them a lot. They play breakneck speed melodic skate punk with driving guitars; influences ranging far and between but they maintain their own identity and manage to mix things up incredibly well creating infectious tunes and a highly enjoyable album. Although the language barrier means the vocals will perhaps draw comparisons to well known compatriots like Millencolin, but they are quite different in my opinion. Some songs sound familiar too, ‘Mitt Sista Andetag’ chorus sounds like the Scandinavian twin of Bad Religions “Punk Rock Song’ but the band knows how to write their own powerful harmonies on other songs (‘Stanna Upp’, ‘En Tid Med Dig’) and create a tight, well produced punk rock album. Criticism might be the slightly high number of songs and their unsubtle US east coast mimicking but singing in their own language and keeping the songs to a 3 minute average whilst still getting you to sing along not knowing what the hell you are saying are positive attributes. Highly enjoyable and catchy Swedish punk rock.

Socialized
Refuse Resist
I Scream Records

Boston has always been a mini Mecca of punk rock and although hardcore has rarely been amongst my favourite sub genres, Refuse Resist create a fusion of melodic and hardcore punk that should appeal to a broad base. Although the rough vocals have drawn comparisons to other Boston legends Slapshot, the crunching guitars and general furious pace of “Socialized” with their 80s UK influences and plenty of gang vocal sing alongs means there is plenty of variety on the album. The theme of the record itself, as depicted by the album cover which has a brain hooked up to the ‘social’ plugs of modern social tools like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as the band attempt at breaking free from what they deem to be shackles and searching for freedom. The songs do vary away from this theme with songs on their roots (‘Still In Massachusetts’) and on the government greed (‘IRS’) which are angrier vents and the personal ‘What is Right’ about the deaths of a grandmother, and beloved pets in short succession. It’s not entirely a pessimistic themed album with ‘One Life’ very catchy and ultimately it’s a straight up hardcore album with some catchy hooks and effective guitars.