Rudimentary Peni are, at least in some circles, a criminally underrated punk band that releases music semi steadily since their inception (besides the seven year layoff between their landmark album, Cacophony and its successor Pope Adrian 37th). Cacophony is a personal favorite and always keeps me coming back to their material and checking out the new material whenever it hits the shelves. Rudimentary Peni's latest record, No More Pain, is their first record since 2004 when Archaic landed; No More Pain is ten songs which leaves me a bit surprised that some consider this only an EP, and admittedly there is a tinge of excitement for me at hearing this new record from this three piece.
There are brief blasts like "A Handful of Dust" which give one just enough of a taste of the band's ability to still pound out a song even after all this time; buzz saw guitars, a steady back beat, and vocals that sound like Nick Blinko is sneering are the order of the day. In truth, most of the No More Pain is applicable to this formula with varying tempos and chord progressions; it is punk rock and is executed as such. There are some standout tracks, like the powerful down stroked power chords and bounding bass line of "No More Pain", which provide an effective background for Blinko's poetic lyrics. "Annihilation" is easily my favorite song on this short collection even though it follows the same simplistic formula that just about every other track sticks to compositionally, mainly because of its tempo and the way that the vocals just sit on some imaginary line between listenable and maddening.
Although I much prefer to listen to Cacophony and Death Church, it is good to hear Rudimentary Peni weigh in now and again. No More Pain is right around twenty minutes of simple punk rock that comes across as the desperate sounding yelps of a madman. The artwork is more of the instantly recognizable and iconic work from Blinko who is responsible for all the band's art (as well as last year's Iron Lung artwork for Sexless/ No Sex. Not reinventing the wheel by any stretch of the imagination, but these songs offer just enough to keep one's attention and add up to a solid release. Still, I would consider No More Pain to be more for completists of the band's discography or veterans at the least; newcomers should look to their earlier output and then come here later if they should become a fan.
