Long Walk, Short Pier

Man, this is some nice, slovenly, pissed off music from the thought to be happy land of Boston, Massachusetts. I’m not sure if 26 Beers is the limit for these guys, or if it’s the bare minimum to allow them to tolerate this shitty world and not start beating random people with baseball bats, but they’ve got enough attitude to crush tempered steel. They bring that angst-laden punk sound with the low end production and gang choruses to boot, and churn out some wicked thrash riffs, in a more concentrated fashion than I think I’ve ever heard Cro-Mags pull off.

This is your typical, nasty socio-political crossover, with the aggression and speed of Slayer, but the vocal style and presentation of a group that was banned from New York for being too damn loud. They essentially have the transition from fast paced thrash to bone crushing breakdowns mastered (listen to “Down For The Count” if you doubt this), and they can actually put an album together without goofing around with 10 or 15 second long joke songs. There are plenty of goodies on here for those who want some animated thrashing, such as the wicked opening song “Firing Squad”, and the blazing “Broken Arrow” which actually presents an even sloppier yet lovable take on Kerry King’s style of guitar soloing.

If you like crossover where thrash rules and punk is simply along for the ride, this is the way to go. The production values are a bit lackluster on this one, even for a small time band on an indie label, but it’s a solid listen from beginning to end. The vocalist literally sounds like he smoked 3 packs of Marlboro’s before recording this, yet is able to put enough punch behind his raspy voice to not sound like a garbled mess. It’s a band with a goofy name, and an even goofier album title, but I wouldn’t say it to these guys’ faces or you might find yourself in the emergency room.