Sure Madball is still kicking, but let's face it, they have already been around the block and back several times over. Cleary they are juggernauts of their style but one day they're going to have to relinquish their title as the undisputed kings of hardcore; but who will be the heir?
Meet Guns Up!, one of the Merrimack Valley's best exports in some time. This band isn't pulling any punches, if anything their riling up their fans to throw them - at no one in particular of course. Like the previously mentioned Madball, Guns Up! takes a no frills approach to hardcore, focusing on groove more than anything else - a feature notable to the "thug" style. These boys can't be bothered by something like a melody; when you're dispensing the dance floor justice, there's no time for that's pansy shit. What they play is straight up hardcore in the vein of the NYHC sound. Also, I see the No Warning comparison many have made in regards to Guns Up!, I just never listened to them all that much so they are never a band I think of when making comparisons. Plus I think they are still in time out for making that shitty shitty album, Suffer, Survive.
So if I'm admitting that, within the genre, there isn't a lot of room to reinvent the wheel, then what is it exactly that makes Guns Up! leagues ahead of their contemporaries? Well that's where the music speaks for itself. Within the first five minutes of Outlive you'll find yourself with an uncontrollable urge to two-step, windmill and pile-on; this I swear. With the opening track, "Outlive," the band comes on full force with pounding songs to get us all in the mood. It isn't until the next song, don't worry it's only about a minute wait, until we really want to "get our mosh on." "You Break," which has to be my favorite track on the album, starts with a strong riff by a single guitar and some drumming before busting into the jam with the full band. This song to me embodies what makes the genre work. A groove you can dance to that's solid throughout and a breakdown that doesn't follow that "slow and low" tempo that makes others sound so generic. Outlive holds up throughout too; within its twenty five minutes there is never a dull or monotonous moment, which is saying a lot considering what was mentioned in the previous paragraph. Drawbacks, if any? Lyrically, the band is treading well-worn territory - your basic misanthropy and how to rise above it. Nonetheless, it's still powerful enough to get you shouting along while clenching your fists.
So, yes, this really isn't anything new, but few other bands could make such a bold statement like "Life's Ill" and have the jams to prove it. Get into it!
