The Rampton Release Date - Relax You're Nearly Dead.

Not to be confused with extreme metallers Last Chance At Rampton, this is their first full length CD following several EPs over the last few years. Ill fortune seems to have dogged them, with broken limbs being the least of their worries from what I can glean from their various biographies. Having been impressed with their live performance at the recent Meltdown Records Christmas party at Scruffy Murphy's (see live review) here's my thoughts on their studio work.

Again I'm going to break with tradition for this site and not do a track by track analysis. The main reason for this is the similarity and familiarity of the songs – you really wouldn't want to read a similar critique twelve times! Don't get me wrong this isn't a negative – TRRD blitz their way through this album relentlessly in a punk/hardcore show of aggression. No frills, they know what they do, and do it very well indeed. After the “London Palladium presents” intro all hell breaks loose and doesn't let up. I'd single out the following tracks as highlights though. “I'm Hit” starts the ball rolling and is a quality punk tune with mind blowingly fast cymbal work. “The Violence” will get them pogoing like mad, or a pit forming, dependent on the audience demographic. “I'm Surrounded” has a crashing quality to the guitar work that is horrifyingly aggressive, and the album closer “The Wrong Life” has an absolute belter of a hardcore riff towards the end.

If you are a fan of traditional punk, post punk or hardcore then this should appeal as it delivers the mood and aggression admirably. Tracks get a bit samey but you expect that to be fair. My main criticism concerns the production, or more probably the mastering. This sounds sludgy and the vocals could be far more prominent. Yes they're aggressive, but they should make your blood curdle. At least they're understandable though compared to the usual cookie monster or death grunting I normally listen to.

As I'm sad enough to file my CDs alphabetically (although with the number I've got it's the only way I can find anything..honestly!!) this nestles alongside The Ramones which I guess is fitting enough. This is a real throwback album, hopefully the band's run of bad luck has come to an end – if it has they should do very well for themselves in 2009.