Lovely Noise
For those not previously acquainted with London based quartet, Todd, let me first explain what you can expect on this album. You will receive forty one minutes of pure aggressive, pulsating, angry and at times violent noise bashing your ear drums repeatedly to death with not just the kitchen sink but the cupboard too, and how we love it. With a slight line up change, the boys release their third album to an eagerly waiting fan base.
From the opening riffs and drum intro of track one ‘Track Side Fire’ you are exposed to the energy and pace that lasts throughout the entire thirteen tracks of ‘Big Ripper’. ‘Best Laid Plans’ sees the slower mellower side of the band without losing the heavy feel. In true punk style the majority of the early tracks are all around the two minute time frame but from track nine onwards it becomes a different beast altogether. All of a sudden the short punch you in the face type songs get replaced with long drawn out affairs which at times feel a bit shoe gaze but without losing the creative menacing sound. This includes a monster of a finale in ‘French And Out Of France’ which sounds like The Stooges at their best.
The vocals are in the Kong style, muffled and playing second fiddle to the music which is just loud, very loud, so loud that it virtually drowns all vocals away, which leaves you with no idea what the song is about. This may sound weird but in truth ‘Big Ripper’ is all about the music and what it does to you. Only one track felt just a bit too out there, the penultimate song ‘Hard Life’, otherwise a lot of credit is owed to Todd for producing the music they love and not the commercial rubbish we are flooded with.
Trying to compare the sound of Todd to other artists is just asking for trouble. There is the chaotic feel of Kong, some of the riffs sound a tad bit like Future of the Left, A Place to Bury Strangers and even White Stripes at times but quite possibly it is easiest to say they just sound like Todd.