Sizzling punk • but could they do better?
With a fresh blast of intense punk fused with melodic rock, Danish rockers, Gob Squad give us a pleasurable listen with their third album ‘Watch The Cripple Dance’. There is a full punk muscle pulsating that takes them to the edge whereby they sound like they may make the plunge to screamo, but pull back just in time, meaning that the full throttle adrenaline rush of bands like No Trigger and Saves The Day are here, but there are also flashes of bands like The Loved Ones and Billy Talent.
First song, ‘Unconscious Souls’ starts of mid-tempo with melodic guitars and a thick bass line before building up to a big chorus, whilst Thomas’ vocals are a full sandpaper rasp in the hard rockin’ song, ‘The Tyranny In Good Intents’. This is a corker of a song bordering on being an anthem, with it’s hard and fast guitar licks and pounding drum beats and vocals that are a touch of melodic hardcore. Things then slow down with, ‘Stop Pretending’ that has verses that remind me of Buckcherry but a more street punk chorus.
Musically, ‘The White Flag Held Up High’ is a Masterclass in how to come up with a good tune. Starting with a great drum beat, then guitars, and deep bass lines it turns into a song very reminiscent of Billy Talent, which is a great example of the band as a whole, as is next song, ‘The Reason’ which is a real hum-dinger of a song, mixing No Use For A Name and Strike Anywhere, with the subtlety of Rise Against, whilst the lyrics are more thoughtful with, “We are the reason people die inside // We are the reason people cry // Pretty on the outside // But on the inside // She is so cold and damn pretentious // She just can’t get enough…”
Coming across like a more melodic version of The Casualties in, ‘Same Old Street’, Gob Squad keep the tempo up with another catchy rock tune, whilst there is a danger of the band getting a bit samey with, ‘Stand Up And Fight’ which does have some nice metal guitar riffs as a plus. ‘Vacuum Of My Own’ has another riff-showcase in a song that has the album turning into a slight melodic-hardcore by numbers.
Both ‘Time To Be’ and ‘Reflection Of Youth’ can easily pass you by, but this isn’t because they are poor, but more that the beginning of the album is that much stronger that it’s hard to carry on with the album knowing that jumping back to the beginning will give you a better selection of songs. Last song, and album title, ‘Watch The Cripple Dance’ is a slightly non-PC song title, and unfortunately the song isn’t worthy of the controversy that the title might ignite.
As a whole ‘Watch The Cripple Dance’ is a good album albeit a very good EP with some slightly better than mediocre fillers, watering it down to some extent. Gob Squad are certainly the best punk band in Denmark, and could definitely be up there with the success of fellow countrymen, Horrorpops in years to come. They supported legends Motorhead at their sold out December gig in Copenhagen, and are currently on tour until May throughout Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark. They do frustrate me though, as I am convinced that they can do better, and so their next album will be a real corker! But don’t get me wrong, this is up there with some of the best punk albums of the year, and well worth a listen.