Goldblade – The Terror of Modern Life

Overground

Goldblade - The Terror of Modern LifeWho would have guessed all those years ago that there’d still be a strong UK punk scene in 2013? John Robb has been in the midst of it since the very beginning and The Terror of Modern Life shows that he’s not lost an ounce of his energy since then. All the more impressive that he has also recently revived his former gnarly noise combo The Membranes (some of whose members overlap), writes daily features for his Louder than War blog and regularly appears as cultural commentator on all manner of media. These old men could teach the youngsters a thing or two about getting things done.

This is the sixth Goldblade album since they formed in 1997 and is, against all odds, the best one yet. With a more forceful production that ever before, Robb spews out his anger at the current state of his country over a bludgeoning wall of classic guitar riffola. There are singalong choruses galore, blistering guitar solos and even a reggae song. The closing eight minute title track/album highlight gets pretty abstract and will possibly scare some of their fans. While remaining resolutely punk, Goldblade are experienced enough individuals to have absorbed decades of great music into their playing, making the album a multi-dimensional tour-de-force of its genre.

-Alan Holmes-

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