Sir, you may be a bastard but let it not be said that at the least you are an inebrious one! Got a certain ring to it as does the name of the record label, giving you some sort of idea what to expect here. This band are based in Sydney and were formed by ex members of underground and no doubt rather ragtag scuzzbag acts Subversion, Noisam, Bastardos and Sordid. They are joined by British expatriate Alex B infamous for Leech Woman as well as DJ of many a terrifying evil noise act at his much missed Sick and Twisted club nights. Obviously this group are doing something right as they have already played as support to visiting acts as Steve Ignorant and The Subhumans and if you have even the slightest interest in Anarcho punk bands from the UK you should be well aware, shit don’t get any better than that.

So we have here four tracks, no doubt two on each side of this 7″ vinyl and as my files were sent and set themselves up in alphabetical order that is exactly how I am going to dissect them. Starting with ‘Escape From Misery Into Frustration’ we get some meaty drum rolls and scuzzy fretwork which certainly comes coated with a layer of crust. Multi part vocals join in sounds like we have low gruff and higher yells as well as some nice elongated screaming that combined make this very much in the vein of Doom, Antisect, Icons Of Filth and Amebix, which is pretty damn perfect in my book. Obviously tracks are not likely to be over long and once done and dusted it is time for the next. ‘Human Swine is a lot angrier and a bit like poking a slumbering Electro Hippie with a cattle prod. It is ranting and ugly and the down and dirty bass heavy production and garage style jammed out squat riffing suit it all perfectly. Is there an 80-90s Hackney suburb of Sydney? It sounds like this has been shat straight out of there. Nice screaming at end too. ‘Old Growth’ has a guitar rattle reminiscent of Conflict and a bit of a tribal feel to it and takes form of a spoken word political speech ala the aforementioned and Crass. Finally we are at ‘Shame’ all one minute odd of it. It sounds like someone running around with an axe in a car wrecking yard and slams and rattles around causing unruly damage to all it passes.

I am not going to give a mark to something so short but if you like politically motivated crust punk, sniff this one out!

(Pete Woods)

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