Posted on July 13, 2010 - by Editor

Record Review: Gimp Fist/ The Wild/ Locators

The Place Where I Belong
Gimp Fist
Sunny Bastards

Having seen the guys play last year at City Invasion in London they were good on the night but this album shows huge potential and is in fact a great in-betweener for streetpunk, Oi and The Clash sounding reggae rock. From album opener ‘The Place Where I Belong’ there is an abundance of energy and melodic gang sing-alongs. The band has plenty of heart and soul with fist clinching fight songs like ‘Here I Stand’ , ‘Walk Away’, ‘Common Ground’ to the more relaxed and reggae infused ‘A Country Fit For Heroes?’ and ‘Sign Of the Times’. There is plenty of rabble rousing venom and the band seem to stride between the genres, mix up the pace and tempo and never compromise on any on their determined and focussed goals. With issues ranging from equality to betrayal, victimisation and working class ethics this record is a great combination of punk rock legacy mixed with modern outlooks which sadly too often still mirror the issues bands were singing about 30 years ago. ‘No Fun’ with the kid on the chorus is a nice touch; this is an inspiring, fun yet thought provoking slab of punk rock.

Set Ourselves Free
The Wild
Asian Man Records

These folksy punks from Atlanta sing political inspired folksy/indie music with an incredibly clean sound that is eternally positive and always good fun despite some serious lyrical matter. With the mix of electric and acoustic ballads on the record, along with happy clapping and upbeat rhetoric (‘Set Ourselves Free’ and ‘Everything  We Need’), the tree-hugging hippy stereotypes are sure to come a plenty but there is a lot more than just good times to The Wild. With Jeff Rosenstock from Bomb The Music Industry! producing the record, and the collection of guitars, banjos, harmonica, keyboards and other instruments the band manages to sway from Mumford and Sons sounding to a softer Against Me! ‘Together Underground’ is a great song and just as revolutionary as anything twice as fast or loud (with lyrics such as “We are nothing more than setting suns, so let’s go glorious until the day is done”) while ‘The Saddest Thing I Ever Saw’ is far more moody, but the initial slow pace and lyrical strain force the tempo. Lyrically the record is full of gems (“the saddest thing I ever saw was a colourful neighbourhood turn white..”) The Wild doesn’t only manage to tug on the heartstrings but gets the cogs in the cranium ticking along too.

Locators
Locators
Heptown Records

Locators have been around a couple years and hail from Copenhagen and include members of Danish bands Nekromantix and Gorilla Angreb. Their sound is not my preferred punk rock niche but they play stripped down garage punk with influences from early punk bands such as Ramones or Dead Boys. This 11 track debut album doesn’t re-invent anything and definitely is a throwback sound to earlier punk bands but at times the similar pace through the bulk of the record gets mundane. That said songs like ‘Razorblade’, ‘Mesmerized’ and ‘Fear’ are all good and solid with simply lyrics; the driving guitar and tempo breaks providing much need variety and energy. There is plenty of melody and the choruses are catchy and simple. I’m not sure how much newer/younger fans of punk rock will appreciate their efforts but the older crowd might enjoy the sound based on nostalgia and mix of old school, a bit of rockabilly and swing will get some creaking bones on the dance floor.