This is the filaments second studio album, and the band is downsized to only six members this time. The sound is slightly less 'core' and has more lead guitar riffs than the last album, and the horns section has changed quite a lot too. They seem to have more input into this album, and are definitely used a lot more on a lot of the tracks.
This album is very well rounded, with no obvious filler tracks. Considering it took them 2 years to write and record, I’m not suprised that it is this good. 'Sick Joke' starts of the proceedings, which is a cool little tune about (I think) terrorists, and how their ideals are just a hate filled dream. Very cool solo in this, and a nice riff in the outro. 'Men of the Law' follows this up. One word pops to mind when you hear this song. WOW. It begins with a chugging power chord (slightly overused intro on this album i must say), and then goes into an amazing (probably the best on the album) horn riff. Its to good for words, and this song live is pure heaven. When you’ve got 100 'HE NEVER STOPPED TO THINK!,' ringing in your ears, you cant not like this song. The B.P.C follows, which has a great chorus and horn riff too, and is also wicked live. After this we get to the real good stuff (do I say that too much in my reviews?) with 'Western Double Standards' and 'Life’s Not A Privilege,' absolutely blowing you away, even on the first listen. 'Western Double Standards' totally rocks out, with another amazing horn part, and a great 'WESTERN DOUBLE STANDARDS!' sing along chorus. 'Life’s Not A Privilege' is just as good, with a slower, slightly less upbeat horn riff, with some nice guitar melodies and a cracking solo added in near the end. The outro (yes, the outro) just takes the biscuit, everything slows down and leads into a great, great horn solo. Amazing way to end any song. 'No Part' was the next track to catch my eye, this time with a good power chord riff in the intro, and another great horns bit. 'Wooooooohh wooooooh,' all the way through this song, with a lot of melodic backing vocals. I thought an outro couldn’t get any better than 'Life’s not a Privilege.' I was wrong. Very wrong. Amazing ending, with a recording played over it adding to the effect, and a nice guitar riff. Horns get wicked agen at about 2.04, and another great track ends with another great outro. 'Mafia,' 'Bastard Coppers' and 'Zombie Break' end this album amazingly, 'Bastard Coppers' being officially the easiest song to sing along to at a gig ever. Once again 100 punks all saying '**** THE PIGS!' is enough to scare any cop!
Overall, this album is absolutely pure goodness. I thought it couldn’t get much better after their first release, but on this album the horns, guitar and vocals have become a lot more focused. An amazing live band too, i seriously recommend these guys to you if your a fan of any type of punk/ska-punk.
Standout Tracks
Men Of The Law
Western Double Standards
Life’s Not A Privilege
No Part
Mafia
Bastard Coppers
Zombie Jailbreak
This album gets an amazing :thumb: from me, one of my favourite punk albums in my collection, a must have for everyone I swear!
