Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Multiball
Label: Self-released
Release: 2016
Length: 25:33
Rating: 4/5
Multiball, the sturdy punk rockers (or HC punk rockers) from Celje who have been holding their ground on the Slovenian music scene for more than fifteen years, return after a seven-year break with their fourth studio album, which they’ve titled »Gimme Your Fire«.
The band promised a lot in its early days. It jumped on the train of commercially successful alt-rock shifts that swept up the trends in the music world at the time, so it’s no wonder they clicked with (the now late) Leaf-Fat, with whom they once shared stages all over Slovenia, or that they went on the 2007 tour with Vanilla Sky, 3 Feet Smaller and Guadalajara.
With the new album, the band has caught a fresh wind in its sails. Apparently the long break wound up working in their favor, because the new record is packed with a hugely likable mix of creative, compositional variety, and that’s the main thing. The guys haven’t lost any of the dynamite in their senses, nerves and limbs, so they tear through the new material with likable and very welcome firepower. Given the past three albums, which boasted a consistently high quality, that’s hardly surprising anymore. Multiball simply stay true, heart and soul, to everything they do musically, even on this new release.
Multiball remain optimists at heart, and the songs are often steered in an upbeat spirit musically, but the album doesn’t hide its indifference toward the feelings of the dark side of any given hominid, which goes hand in hand with the times we’ve been shoved into by the merciless order of the »brave new world«. So. »Gimme Your Fire« remains a bold combination of HC punk with the foundations of classic rock’n’roll attitude smoldering underneath, sung out across nine tracks and barely twenty-five minutes of music, which means the guys went through all the newly written material very eagerly, carefully and thoroughly. That’s why only the best ideas landed on the album, and they’re realized in the best possible way.
A fistful of untamed, wild energy rides on with undiminished force. Though you can tell that over the past seven years the guys have grown into proper men, toughened up by new life experiences. So it’s not hard to tell that »Gimme Your Fire« is also the most mature release of their career. Short, to the point, confessional! No overcomplicating, honest and, as mentioned, full of fire and passion. All in one, fully satisfying and ignition-ready. And that was exactly the goal of the band’s return. So a modest comeback, but once you take in the contents of the new record, a big one. With an excellent new album, the stages and concert venues will once again happily crackle with the surplus of adrenaline-fueled HC punk rock haste, courtesy of Mutliball.
Multiball – Shotgun (official lyric video):
Lineup
Gregor Videc – lead vocals, guitar
Goran Koražija – guitar, backing vocals
Matej Kosmačin – bass, backing vocals
Jan Ratej – drums
Production
Matic
Tracklist
1. Shotgun
2. Bring it Out, Burn it Down!
3. Gimme Your Fire
4. Pa Pa
5. Step Down
6. Hey Dumb
7. Tornado
8. In Between
9. Reset
