Fight Like A Brave

Item: Not Our Style
Rating: 8
Author: xDREWx

Not Our Style (2004)

xDREWx

Everywhere you look these days there's another band trying to defy genres, or be the most original band ever, or the most technical band ever. Well, Fight Like A Brave is nothing like those bands. They play fast, thrash-inspired, old school hardcore/punk rock.

The songs on Not Our Style are probably not like many others you've heard…recently. Fight Like A Brave sounds like something out of the past. Definitely hardcore, definitely punk rock and just a tad thrash, Not Our Style grabs your attention when the first song hits and keeps it throughout the disc's length (not that it's particularly long; 9 tracks in 11 minutes).

I like every song on Not Our Style. They're all good, short, and to-the-point, and as sarcastic as they come. The lyrical themes on Not Our Style include youth angst (real angst), youth pride, hometown pride, cop hatred and friendship. I love all the lyrics. They're simple, yet well-spoken. There're few to no metaphors, similes or poetic elements in these words. They're concise and, luckily, not about ex-girlfriends. For example, in "Fuck The Atkins Diet, I'm Bulimic," singer Keith says, "Tell me, what's your diet? Vegan, vegetarian? No, I throw up, you should try it."

The songs follow a pretty standard formula of being fast, pissed off, around a minute in length and without much flashiness. There are quite a few bass fills, which are well played and very interesting. The one guitar solo is only a couple of notes, but is one of the most interesting, fun solos I've heard in a while. Every now and then Fight Like A Brave will throw in a slow guitar riff with a tom roll on the drums, but they generally keep the tempos pretty speedy.

My favorite song on Not Our Style is definitely "Keep It Out." The lyrics touch on being positive despite negative occurrences of the past and realizing that things do get better. The ending chant is "No room for negativity. Keep that shit out of Hate City!" I love it. That's the closing track, and a strong way to close an already great EP.