Never Give Up

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
London-based garage rock band Abjects have members who hail from Spain (vocalist/guitarist Noemi), Japan (bassist Yuki), and Italy (drummer Alice), but from the sound of their debut album, Never Give Up, it would be no shock to learn that the band split time between living in Billy Childish's guest room and Thee Oh Sees' basement. They have the thud and stomp of any of the Childish-adjacent bands from Medway; they also have the freewheeling abandon found in John Dwyer's West Coast group. From those solid underpinnings, the trio add plenty of their own flair and skill as they whip up a storm of sonic fury driven by pounding drums, overloaded bass, and Noemi's live-wire guitar mangling, and the vocals -- sung with verve by Noemi both in English and Spanish -- match the high quality of the playing. Never Give Up rarely lets up, kicking off with the speaker-melting rocker "Aburrido" and keeping the energy levels boiling the rest of the way. Whether it's a mid-tempo stomper like the title track, an angry punk rager like "Fuck Brexit," or a flailing track that lives up to its name ("The Storm"), the band play with barely controlled fire and garage smarts throughout. They also prove once or twice that they can dial it down a bit without losing any of the tightly wound feel of the rest of the album. The gritty "Surf," which works as a showcase for Noemi's six-string mastery, and the moody to the point of being nasty "Sad Song" are two examples of their range. Mostly, though, this is the kind of record to put on when it's time to go a little wild or for use as a soundtrack while breaking stuff with glee. A couple more records this good, and when the band is mentioned in the same breath as their inspirations, no one will bat an eye. ~ Tim Sendra