Semi-hardcore or softcore with a hard edge?
Bounding out with their first release for Nitro Records, Massachusetts' sons, No Trigger play fast-paced rock on the edge of hardcore but with a melodic twist. 'Canyoneer' starts off with a blast of what's to come on 'The (Not So) Noble Purveyors Of The Third Or Fourth Coming' which thankfully isn't a ballad, or else as the title suggests may turn into an epic! There are chugging guitars with thick riffs on 'Neon National Park' which coupled with beating drums and sensible basslines gives a monster of a song.
There's a slice of hardcore in 'My Woods' before the more interesting and rocking 'Fish Eye Lens'. It's not long before comparisons to both Rise Against and the more raw sounding Please Mr Gravedigger come to mind, which isn't a bad thing in either case, and is evident on 'The Honshu Underground' which blasts out without ever being too offensive. The 45 seconds of hardcore-punk that is 'You Said It' is truly liberating, described as a 'driving, switch-tempo song ...a direct response to homophobic deregulatory slang...'.
In 'More To Offer', No Trigger wanted to emphasise the importance of lyrics, and in particular in this song , show that although most bands are made up of males, they could show that their thoughts are as important to both sexes by enlisting the help of Hayley Helmericks, presumably for the birds. The album closes with 'Tundra Kids' which is a real anthem of a song, starting off with random shouts like it's recorded at some beer-swigging party, then a fast and twanging bass that will have you nodding in approval gatecrashes and really gets the party started.
No Trigger have a great album of thoughtful and hard rocking tunes that are melodic enough for the lyrics to be understood, but heavy and full of energy ball-bashers to be knocking on the door of any place marked Hardcore. Possibly not ground breaking, but entertaining nevertheless. It could well be one to watch...