A War Against Sound

Promo CD 2009 (2009)

crackpotdemagogue

A War Against Sound are a band with quite dumbfounding musical ability. If they hadn't discovered punk rock at an early age, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine that they would be rocking it up in some improvised prog-jazz outfit instead as opposed to kicking out blasts of furious skank-friendly punk jams.

Their two-track Promo CD 2009, thankfully lacking in jazz, is a short but sweet introduction to a band that undoubtedly reeks of promise. The two songs -- "Trial & Error" and "The Premature Chokehold" -- sound at times like a cross between Sublime and Capdown (the ska parts), other times like a cross between early Strung Out and post-Samson Propagandhi (the fast parts). But while the sound of the band might be familiar, their simple but effective utilization of a delay pedal complements both tracks with an atmosphere that adds to the construction of a sound that -- despite its obvious influences -- is unquestionably the band's own.

Where they are let down, like so many other bands, is in their lyricism. Socially conscious and politically astute observations are notoriously difficult to present in song, and while A War Against Sound give it their best shot (see the lyrics to ‘The Premature Chokehold'), they unfortunately fall victim to that good ol' punk rock death-trap -- that is, the death-trap of clichéd and simplistic notions of corporate mind control -- a basic theoretical premise that was put to its grave long ago alongside the corpse of Herbert Marcuse.

But their collective heart is in the right place and that's what counts. A War Against Sound are an exciting, highly talented band from an ever-vibrant UK scene -- and if these two songs are anything to go by, they have much more of worth to offer in the future.