Northern Towns is a new San Diego outfit that features former members of Over My Dead Body and Please Mr. Gravedigger. Before you get excited about the band drawing from their past, I should tell you that this band sounds nothing like those bands at all.
Good as Gold leads off with "Latchford," a song with a Clash-esque rhythm and swagger to it. There is a bit more of a standard fair gruff punk influence in the vocals, as opposed to what Joe Strummer offered. This style is later revisited on "Dead Waves Make No Sounds" and "Purple Hearts," the latter of which boasts a heavy reggae influence. Northern Towns mixes things up with the Cock Sparrer inspired oi sounds on "Life Pisses By" and "Full Steam Ahead" has an early hardcore punk vibe, a time when the genre was more closely associated with punk than metal. There is also the more modern styling on "Changing of the Guard," touching on the garage rock sounds reminiscent of "the bands" that were popular about ten years ago.
With their debut Northern Towns have added to the solid start for Swagger City Records. The band has a brand new split 7" they just released, so if you enjoy this, pick that up as well.
