REVIEW - ROUGHNECK RIOT "Out of Anger" (2014)

Roughneck Riot  "Out of Anger" TNS Records TNS039
Release date: October 13, 2014
Running Time: 46:17, 14 tracks

 “Out of Anger” is Roughneck Riot most mature effort to date. From their debut album, which the band tries to forget, to this recent release, Roughneck Riot’s sound and attitude has been growing every year. Unfortunately Jade (accordion) and Simon (drums) left the band, but the new members Samuel on accordion and Tez on drums have been the perfect addition to the band’s philosophy. On “Out of Anger” the listener finds a band blending the heritage of the British folk punk grandparents (Levellers) with the influence of the heavyweights from the So-Cal punk scene (Bad Religion, NOFX). The songs are always mandolin and banjo driven numbers, but the accordion arrangements are really awesome and one feels that the electric guitar has found a bigger role too. But, if the five guys and the girl have grown up as a band, their social conscience has also grown up.

The beginning of the album is flawless. Some of the “catchiest” numbers are “Animosity”, “Parasites” and “All That We Know”. In the midldle one can find a sharper punk song like “Resistance”, but the other three can be easily linked to the Levellers “Letters from the Underground” era. I can even imagine Simon Friend singing “All that We Know”.

The next track, “England Desperate Liars” is another fast-paced number with a So-Cal twist that is followed by “Should We”, a song inspired by, an including, the poem entitled “Should We” written by Laura Taylor, where the guitar and the rhythm section do a great job.

“This Green, Unpleasant Land” musically shifts away from the previous numbers. It gets a folkier treatment , but its message is even stronger. The lyrics to this song are inspired by James Armstrong’s “Kielder Hunt" about fox hunters saboteurs and I would say that it’s one of the best songs on the album. Go to www.huntasabs.org for further info.

Roughneck Riot are writing their own brand of folk punk and try to avoid the usual Celtic punk approach. Anyway “Never Silenced” is a short number with a banjo sound reminiscent of Blood or Whiskey.

On “Each Man’s Hell”   the band return to their territory, but in the next song they take a folkier approach again. The track is titled “The Other Side” and the intro is really beautiful.

“Need I Remind You” is a song originally released on their debut album that gets a new lease of life. “The Last of Us” is a kick-ass fast-paced number with a powerful chorus “How far will it go? The last of us are growing old/What have we to show? What’s left of us, we can’t keep hold”. “Too Late” starts with a guitar part and follows a pop-punk path with catchy chorus and amazing background vocals. Finally “He Never Came Home” gets a darker Californian treatment.

If Levellers “Levelling the Land” and Oysterband “The Shouting End of Life” where some basic albums of the British folk punk movement, I guess that Roughneck Riot “Out of Anger” is the new milestone of the British folk-punk scene.

Tracklist:

01. Animosity 3:43
02. Parasites 2:46
03. Resistance 3:29
04. All That We Know 3:47
05. Englands Desperate Liars 5:01
06. Should We? 3:18
07. This Green, Unpleasant Land 2:31
08. Never Silenced, Never Stopped 1:36
09. Each Man’s Hell 3:12
10. The Other Side 4:18
11. Need I Remind You 2:38
12. The Last Of Us 3:08
13. Too Late 2:57
14. He Never Came Home 3:54

Facebook
Twitter

Click to buy

CD, Band's store
Vinyl, Band's store
CD Baby (mp3)
iTunes
Amazon


Review by Kinksmarkham