Slick-sounding, upbeat, almost poppy street punk, with songs sung in both English and Swedish. I would throw this in a “street punk starter pack” for anyone who was interested in the genre but maybe didn’t know where to start, as a way to ease into it.
Melbourne streetpunk/Oi! types the CLINCH return with an album full of pint-spilling, get-yer-mate-in-a-headlock-at-last-orders anthems which completely took me by surprise. It has all the hallmarks of a classic album of the genre replete with full-throated gang vocal choruses and soaring no-nonsense riffs that touch upon ROSE TATTOO or COLOURED BALLS at their rock’n’rolliest in parts. So far, so streetpunk. However beneath this beer-battered exterior lay some unexpectedly nuanced and thoughtful lyrics, far far beyond the usual fare for your garden variety streetpunk. Stand out track “Basecamp” has a chorus that is so catchy I’ll end up humming it for years to come. Well worth a spin, good on ya lads.
This band has members of the QUEERS, ANTI-HEROS, and AGONIZERS ATL, and that is enough for me to have been slightly intrigued. Add to that the fact that Joe Queer himself recorded this, and I was definitely curious as to what was going on here. Well, what we have is some pretty slick-sounding street punk. I suppose this would be a good starting point for someone not too familiar with this type of stuff, as it’s not too abrasive—kinda like street punk-lite. Much better than I would have expected, for sure.
