Civil War Rust

The Fun & The Lonely

Written by: PP on 25/03/2013 03:08:25

It's shocking that Civil War Rust's anthemic, no-bullshit approach to punk rock isn't a staple on the Fat Wreck Chords roster, because their new album "The Fun & The Lonely" is essentially a prototypical late 90s release for the label. The riffs are straight-forward and fast, the vocals clean and polished--yet slightly strained--and the melodies anthemic and catchy from the first listen. It's sufficiently raw to please Fat Mike's penchant for vocalists with charisma in their voice, but still clean enough to possess significant market value for people who like their music fast, simple, and with big sing alongs.

The first half of the album recalls punk bands in the vein of The Loved Ones: energetic, reasonably high-paced, and kinda poppy, but without falling into pop punk territory at any point. Calling it standard Midwestern punk wouldn't be entirely out of the question. It's sort of bright, at least in comparison to songs like "Mayday", which belongs more into the Anti-Flag camp of pissed off punk rock, allowing for big woo-hoo type gang shout-alongs where necessary. This is why the band have two vocalists, by the way, so they can effortlessly switch between the more melodic and bright stuff and the gruffer, more introspective stuff as found on the second half of the album. Here, they draw from The Lawrence Arms and perhaps even The Menzingers' old material. It's also here where Civil War Rust are at their best. The poppy woo-hoo stuff is catchy, but it's the additional edge and aggressive feel in the full-blast screaming on tracks like "Balloons & Bouquets" that elevates their sound above so many contemporaries. It's also a factor that the rougher vocalist has a little more charisma in his voice than the cleaner one, at least in this scribe's opinion.

As a whole, "The Fun & The Lovely" is a very, very straight-forward and prototypical punk rock release. It's not too polished, but it maintains enough melody and catchy choruses to keep its listener interested throughout. It may not be on par with the best releases in the genre, but not all releases need to be great: this is simply solid, catchy punk rock with no additional bullshit clouding your judgment.

7

Download: Freight Train, Balloons & Bouquets, Seven Down
For the fans of: The Loved Ones, The Lawrence Arms, Anti-Flag
Listen: Facebook

Release date 29.01.2013
Say-10 Records

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