Artist: Sick Of It All
Label: Century Media
Released: 2011
Length: 38:04
Rating: 4.5/5
HC in its noblest form needs no cosmetic add-ons, and even after a quarter century of grinding, Sick Of It All carry on their legacy in the most obvious way possible: with gigs, sweat, blood, hard work and a stubbornness all their own. That’s also why the band’s 25-year timeline is a constant of growth and evolution, and the music hits harder than Thor’s hammer. Since they never clung to shortcuts, the New York quartet, made up of the aging but always action-ready brothers Lou and Pete Koller, drummer Armand Majidi and the youngest member, bassist Craig Setari, rolled up their sleeves for the round quarter-century instead of going the best-of route. They headed to Denmark’s Antfarm studio – with metal producer wizard Tue Madsen in tow – and came back from that sound hatchery with a record that knocks the socks off even the most demanding metal purist.
Nonstop is a half-hour missile of reborn energy and a heap of old songs from nine albums, now sporting a fresh shine, a top-notch sonic outfit, ever-relevant punchlines, killer lyrics and articulated anger. That anger is now way more seasoned and far more intense than the first time, when rounds of raw HC riddled me fifteen years ago. People change, while Sick Of It All are simply like fine wine: older and better. The experience shows in all twenty tracks, each with its own solid backbone, and together they weave into an infernal wreath of truly exceptional dance-floor standards. The guitars are fat and tuned lower, and the massive weapon in the hands of energetic, always sincere Pete rumbles nicely. The vocals are more pronounced than ever, and the lyrics are sharp as a scalpel and critical of the system. The drums are balanced and juicy enough not to come off too pretentious, and the bass flails just right. Tue really did an outstanding job, and the songs are, well, an authentic mirror of genuine, uncompromising NYHC pride.
A lack of cash may indeed have robbed records like Blood, Sweat and Tears, Just Look Around, Scratch The Surface and Built To Last of sonic perfection, and not even Fat Wrack Records gave the band the right sound. A new epoch only began the day Century Media got involved one way or another, and of course the fans of the old, rudimentary DIY production will rush to defend the old dirty sound. Not without reason, since that furrowed, battered, beaten-up face always had a nice complexion and patina, but thanks to the thin production the releases could hardly be compared to brilliants – more like uncut diamonds, which live always exceeded expectations and satisfied even the most uptight, narrow-minded spoiled brats. Nonstop is a reflection of how SOIA would have sounded back then if they’d had a few more bucks in their wallets. Then again, I can’t bet that if they’d always had it all handed to them, they’d have managed to serve up as much unfeigned anger and revolt as they poured into their lyrics and music over 25 years of history.
SOIA’s iconic status is no accident but the fruit of hard, relentless evolution, and the group’s cohesive core is the real deal, unlike plenty of wimps who thought the right haircut, a little color under the skin and some world-weary posing with shades of black under the eyes were enough for success. Sick Of It All are a mirror of the nexus that is the American metropolis of New York. Part of that picture are rappers, violent cops, social inequality and poverty, revolted malcontents and part-time revolutionaries, and it all lands in the same bouquet on the musical podium of twenty chosen tracks and vocal vignettes, which Madsen polished to the finest detail with precision. Lou Koller has never sounded so polished, central and distinct, and yet the vocal is still steely, just scorched enough and ripped.
After KRS-One’s spoken intro, announcing that the veterans are ready for a compact apocalyptic strike in 2012 with the line »Fresh for 2012 you suckers!«, a real shot of adrenaline follows with the closing track of the superb debut Blood Sweat And Tears, Injustice System. The stanza “There are those who change the laws / For gain and furthering their needs / A small group possesse the power / A minority dictating what’s good for the majority / Money has the real influence / Without it what we say don’t make a difference / I won’t tell you to give in / But to me there’s got to be a better way to fight for our rights / And to have our say / To choose for ourselves / And not be led around blindly on a short leash” loses none of its edge or topicality even 23 years after it was first put on record. After the fight and the call-out to the system, Sanctuary is a slightly melodic shelter before we find out how much modern technology can take. The flagship track of Scratch The Surface has finally shone with the sparkle of an HC hit in the fullest sense of the word, and the fresh dose of aggression proves the beast can always sprout a new set of sharp teeth, even if they got a bit wobbly with the years. The muscle structure of these New York guys was never in question anyway.
They needed that muscle to fight the corrupt label machinery that would have loved to turn them into another Green Day. They stayed true to the smell of asphalt and sweat instead and went on the attack, middle fingers up, with the track Us Vs. Them. In its new, rejuvenated version it’s maybe an even more meaningful slogan for modern-day rebellion, one that should move from the US onto the streets of our sub-Alpine cesspool too. And so that self-appointed saviors don’t go running for the hills, you also have to listen to the furious oppositional stance of The Deal. I can personally vouch for every word of Just Look Around, when Lou sings “As the rich get richer, the poor goin’ hungry / i’ve seen the toll it takes on the workingman’s family / education system that’s obsolete / can’t hold a kid’s interest or keep ’em off the street / see a father’s fear, hear a mother’s cry / what kind of a nation lets their children die / government’s corrupt and full of red tape / then you’re gonna ask me why i hate” and I wonder whether Slovenia is up to a rebellion with eggs. “They’re just lyrics and HC is just music …” some idiot devoted to trends would retort, but the truth is elsewhere, at a completely different pole. To survive and endure, you have to stand proudly shoulder to shoulder with your comrades and know how to sacrifice selflessly. That’s the point of Ratpack from the superb record Scratch The Surface, which whisks you back to 1994 like a time machine. Just moments later it’s back to ground zero of the big bang and the debut. World Full Of Hate proves that a good chunk of the best ammo is always forged in times of sincerity, garage smell and bloody serious mosh pits, and Pushed To Far backs that up. Sick Of It All were Hatebreed back in 1989, when the latter were nowhere to be seen. After all the dilemmas over whether it’s metal or not, and the loud slander from punk purists over whether it’s their cup of tea or not, it’s clear that even the new, renewed version of the track is sharper than much of what today’s mondaine metal crowd produces, not to mention pampered punks in BMWs and Rolexes …
After GI Joe Headstomp I think I got it wrong and was handed a slightly shuffled version of SOIA’s firstborn instead of a hits collection, as the official announcement promised before the record hit the market. The song Never Measure Up, only two years younger, breaks the attachment to the first step and serves up the superbly rearranged explosiveness of the brutal second record. The melodic spectrum of Built To Last, in my opinion the most melodic album in SOIA’s discography, wouldn’t be complete without the excellent punkish little gem Chip Away. And that the basis of the band’s genetic code is above all wild, unbridled hardcore tempo is proven by Setari’s bright songwriting moment in the form of the short but full track Busted. Locomotive sounds like a punchy version of Cro-Mags on steroids, with Lou calling all the proletarians of the new world to rebel in his slogans. After it comes the first song SOIA ever wrote – My Life, after which barely any glass in your apartment stays in one piece, if you’re even remotely alive. Friends Like You is a reckoning with all those sneaky self-proclaimed motherfuckers who pass as friends and then stab you in the back, brute-style, in the back. Among the newer-vintage tracks is Relentless, one of the biggest highs of Life On The Ropes. The only real weak spot of this compilation, or rather of the first four albums plus one satellite extra, is No Labels. In company with such exceptional tracks it’s a solid NYHC punker bit, but it lacks conceptual sharpness. The big finale with my favorite song from my favorite record – Built To Last – is a nice classic band-aid for the soul. A tougher, undoubtedly more polished and sharper take on the classic than the original puts the cherry on top of an outstanding string of extreme listening moments, with nothing for anyone to complain about.
This confidently executed school of NYHC standards is a “crash course” for everyone who skipped SOIA back in the days of the regular album lectures and is looking for a proper study guide before their renewed landing in our parts. No, it’s not a half-assed product, but the fact is that the whole newer part of their history is badly neglected, even though it’s exceptional and worth at least a mention. The wellspring of creativity didn’t dry up in 2003, but in the narration of their uninterrupted 25-year career SOIA are masters of their own space-time continuum. They’re even allowed to deliberately forget something, brush it aside or at least push it to the background for a moment or two, because to satisfy everyone they’d have had to release at least a triple album, if not re-record every song from every album. That would be interesting, but think about it and tell me honestly – who’s ever done that, and why would anyone try to rewrite their own history? That’s the privilege of those who rule without ever having been elected. And so we’re back at politics, which SOIA are critical of too. Nonstop! And that’s exactly why it’s always so fresh and nice to listen to them, and maybe one day we’ll even have enough courage to turn words into action? Just a thought that always pops up when the ears are full of good music and great ideas …
Lineup
Lou Koller – vocals
Pete Koller – guitar, backing vocals
Craig Setari – bass, backing vocals
Armand Majidi – drums
Guest musician:
KRS-One – intro on Clubbering Time
Production
Tue Madsen
Track list
1. Clobberin’ Time
2. Injustice System!
3. Sanctuary
4. Scratch The Surface
5. Us Vs. Them
6. The Deal
7. Just Look Around
8. Ratpack
9. World Full Of Hate
10. Pushed Too Far
11. GI Joe Headstomp
12. Never Measure Up
13. Chip Away
14. Busted
15. Locomotive
16. My Life
17. Friends Like You
18. Relentless
19. No Labels
20. Built To Last
