Review Summary: Send in the Clowns. No, not those ones.
Clowns are maybe one of the worst-conceived attempts at entertainment across humankind’s history. There are only two clown-related concepts that aren’t awful: Steven King’s IT, and Clowns the band, who might be Australia’s most underappreciated punk act right now. On ‘Bad Blood’, they blend exhilarating combinations of hardcore and punk, angry and groovy, ferocious and fun, and doing so have made one of the best punk records of the last few years.
Lead vocalist Stevie Williams’ incredible performances range from roughly sung punk, to some of the most animalistic screams I’ve heard, period. On the manic opener ‘Human Error’ and highly exciting ‘Never Enough’ he easily flips between wild screams and punky hooks, while out of nowhere deathcore-style shrieks show up on ‘Infected’. He even matches Chester Bennington’s famed ‘Given Up’ scream in ‘Play Dead’, in both intensity and stamina. Then again, this is unsurprising coming from a vocalist who reportedly hangs from the ceiling during shows. Fans of Wil Wagner will also enjoy the light Australian accent he embraces, which nicely rounds out the intensity of their approach.
Clowns are experts at hopping between different punk sounds, all the while sounding cohesive. They effortlessly leap from mathcore influences (‘Human Error’) to upbeat bluesy punk (‘Euthanise Me’), to straight up hardcore (‘Figure It Out’) without a hitch, pulling off each sound fantastically. Through it all, impressively heavy bass rumbles beneath equally dissonant and catchy guitars, carrying each tempo change and stylistic shift. Closing the album is the gargantuan 11 minute Silverchair-inspired ‘Human Terror’, the first half of which is purely instrumental. Though nothing exciting happens until the vocals kick in, it’s still a pretty gutsy move for a punk/hardcore band.
Across its near 40 minute run time, ‘Bad Blood’ sees Clowns brilliantly embody the menace of their namesake. The highest praise I can give this album is that aside from half of the closing track there’s hardly a dull moment, which is impressive for a record of its style and length. Given that they just opened for the Foo Fighters in Melbourne, hopefully Clowns will see more of the popularity they deserve in the coming years. The band that is, not actual…well, clowns.
Recommended: Human Error, Euthanise Me, Figure It Out, Play Dead
