The Breaks

...Are Broke [7 inch] (2008)

OverDefined

The Breaks were a Midwestern band that played super speedy early `80s-style hardcore with equal doses of passion and reckless abandon. According to the liner notes, the material found on this release was recorded at the same time as their 2005 Get Saved 7", but was discarded for various reasons. Ultimately, Firestarter Records decided the material was too good not to release and we have this posthumous 7".

Musically, the band sticks to the same basic style through all five songs, playing likely as fast as they can, only slowing down periodically for mid-tempo breakdowns as the vocalist rants about the problems he sees around him. It's a tried and true approach and while there exists no standout aspects of the band, the Breaks certainly sound like they mean it. I'm guessing this band was great live and if they were local to me I would probably be way into this; however, as I am looking in from an outsider perspective, I can only say that this is a solid and respectable hardcore punk release by a band that should have stuck it out longer.

While listening I chose to do some Internet research on this band and after finding only a couple of YouTube videos and a write-up on the label's website, I was left scratching my head. With all of the thousands of bands across the country (and world for that matter) that work towards finding a label and having their music released, it is a bit of a conundrum as to why a label would forego much chance of recoupment and press up copies of music by a band two years defunct that did not make much of a national impact. The answer must be that to somebody somewhere, likely in their local scene, this band meant something and in punk rock, sometimes that's all that matters.