Filed under: Reviews
Out With A Bang-s/t EP- Fashionable Idiots (www.fashionableidiots.com) The sophomore EP from Italy’s Out With A Bang is lacking in the sort of frenzied thrashing that made their debut so memorable, as the band opts for a more KBD-sounding take on their Red Kross/Bad Posture/Adolescents mutation this time around.
While the fundamental ingredients may not have changed much, the shift in tone and production to a more compressed garage punk-sounding din on this record is much in keeping with a pronounced trend among a number of hardcore/punk acts, scaling down the caustic blitzkrieg for murkier riff buzz and throwback clamor.
It’s safe to say that these gents haven’t exactly become the Kingsmen overnight, but their preoccupation with muffled, fuzzed out kitsch equals considerably less fret shredding than before and noticeably scaled down berzerker sonics. The end result is a bit of a letdown, as their last record, the utterly psychotic “I’m Against It” one-sided 12″/7″, was one of the more off the wall rippers in recent memory. It would be unfair to shun musical progression, but when spontaneity and brute ferocity take the sideline for heard-it-before antics, the results speak for themselves.-Mike Ramek
