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Swingin' Utters

Here, Under Protest

Written by: PP on 18/05/2011 06:34:14

Eight years have passed since the previous full length from California punkers Swingin' Utters. It's a long time to wait since many consider their beloved sound to be the quintessential Fat Wreck Chords sound, one that best describes the label to most people given its no-frills, straight forward punk rock sound with a strong 90s lean embedded. Long enough time to only have a handful of fans attend their show at Loppen late last year instead of a packed venue. It seems, however, that Swingin' Utters didn't receive the memo about the years gone by considering how their seventh full length album ignores the eight year gap and continues where "Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass, and Bones" left off in 2003.

Well, almost. Fans of Bad Religion and Descendents will be happy to hear that Swingin' Utters still sound exactly like Bad Religion on "Suffer" and on their 90s albums, and like Descendents during their own Bad Religion era of 1996-2004. But if you didn't find The Pogues influences folk tunes on album number six enjoyable, you're shit out of luck because those return in numbers on the second half of the record, alongside a southern vibe a la old school Social Distortion. On top of that, you have a couple of tracks like "Kick It Over", which crosses so far into pop rock that most punk fans will have trouble swallowing its polished and boring high pitch chorus. It lacks the grit and teeth that we've grown to love from Johnny Bonnel's Greg Graffin imitation, but fortunately it's in the minority with songs like "Sketch Squandered".

Despite the criticism in this review, the majority of "Here, Under Protest" is dominated by strong material. Not classic, necessarily, but good old sing-a-longs before the idea of trendy was even the faintest of concepts within punk rock. Simple, but effective power chord driven pieces with a great sense for catchy melody. No bullshit, just punk rock.

Download: Brand New Lungs, Lepers Thieves And Whores
For the fans of: Bad Religion, Descendents, The Pogues, Dead To Me
Listen: Myspace

Release date 26.04.2011
Fat Wreck Chords