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Skull And Trombones
This was the filaments first album as a full band, theyd been gigging pubs and clubs until they got their act together and decided to record an album. The Essex boys really rock on the album, a generaly good punk/ska album.
To start of with, im going to say that i know theyre are quite alot of up and coming bands in this genre, e.g the splitters, the dead pets etc. But these guys are really good, slightly different to the rest as they seem to be more influenced by hardcore than by ska-punk/core (catch 22 etc). This leads to a great new sound, comprising of an album that has some hardcore tracks, some ska. Starting of this album, is the blistering punk unity, one of my fave tracks of this album. Like alot of punk songs, its all about unity etc etc, but comprises of a great brass line, with the usual chunky rythm from mike and john. One of the first things you notice is his voice. Its very similar to Agnostic Front, but seems to blend perfectly with their more ska sound, resulting in some very interesint stuff. Trevor's up next, telling the story of their mate Trevor. Following the unity theme, with 'as the firm goes marching in, he shouts out Oi! Oi! Oi!,' talking about how hes at their gigs all the time etc. The next couple of tracks dont contain anything standout, just the hardcore based 'hiroshoma' and the softer 'our roots.' So far so good. At this point the album starts getting amazing, with the great ska based 'Thrown Away' and 'Better Way.' These tracks show of the softer, more melodic side or their band, in a great way. Then its back to hardcore city, with OI! Its The Filaments, which was one of the main standout tracks on the album, with very cool horns and riffing. 'UK Now' follows this, a much more melodic ska track, which happens to be my faverouite song from the album. Great, great horns, and i love the way the guitar follows the scales instead of the bass, really makes the track stand out. Great singing on this one to, leading up to the slightly wierd end track 'Patricia.' Its a 20 second long blast of the band saying 'Patracia, Patricia, Patricia **** OFF!' Slightly random, but oh well, they cant be perfect.
The reason why i chose to review this album, was because i felt it was a step forward in the UK Ska scene, no bollocks here, just straight music front the locals at the pub just wanting to have a laugh. That is what British Punk is all about IMO. Im going to see em next thursday, so ill be able to report back with how good they are live.
Standout Tracks:
Punk Unity
Trevor
Better Way
UK Now
OI! Its The Filaments
Overall, a solid album from a great band, check this out if ure into the more hardcore ska scene.
4/5 :thumb:
