heavy duty melodic punk-rock
Seriously loving this album, and you should too if heavy duty yet melodic punk-rock is your thing. Paul Walker is the debut full length from Albany (NY) punks Drug Church (released via No Sleep Records) and it's a corker.
Other than speculation over the title (please say it's an ironic mention), musically there are no quibbles, the five piece has a meaty, dark sound with great melodies likened to bands like Quicksand, this referencing of the past can be heard throughout the album but it never over shadows or takes over the Drug Church sound. On the brilliant single Donny's Woods it feels like we might have ventured even further back into the musical murk, Big Black spring to mind at times here, although Drug Church are so much smoother and more refined (make of that what you will...I'm a fan of both). As mentioned above, the track pays homage to the past as does the rest of the album but make no mistake, it still sounds very much firmly planted in the now - comparisons to bands like Fucked Up, Blacklisters and Slices seem apt.
Apparently the record was recorded quickly and with no messing about, not that you can tell. Sure it has a ragged, gruff edge, but that's not unusual for the genre and it fits these tunes snugly - the record is tight and well rounded with a rich, full sound (occasionally muffled but never murky). It's easy to see why Drug Church have been making best of lists, they combine the heady and chunky with the heady and melodic to great effect, making the album hugely addictive - tracks like Attending A Cousins Birthday Party coax you into performing some crazy head-banging /pogo hybrid, and when it's all over you just want to jump straight back in. Superb; one of my albums of the year thus far.