sadplant

The End of Fun (2011)

Rich Cocksedge

On appearances (based on photos from their Facebook page) this trio hailing from Westbrook, Conn., look like they would fit in with the crusty side of punk (no offence intended to the group or crusty punks), possibly with gruff vocals and no-nonsense hardcore as their end product. Well, as we all find out in life, you can't always judge a book by its cover.

sadplant produce something which, although may have a strong appeal to many of the crustier element within punk rock, is on the whole a blistering sound focusing heavily on a buzzsaw guitar sound backed up by a relentless rhythm section, with all three members intent on delivering frenzied tunes laced with melodic guitar work (some decent catchy intros to songs), riffs and hooks all over the place with distinctly ungruff vocals.

The easiest point of reference is, without a doubt, the Freeze. Benny's vocals certainly have that Cliff Hanger timbre to them and lyrically they are much in the same vein, dealing with drugs, broken relationships and the general crap that faces one on a daily basis. Add in some backing vocals from bassist Amy, and this is one of a number of aspects that ensures the band deserves to be spoken/written about of in their own right.

Although the album starts off a bit slowly with "Scary Girl", sounding a bit more poppy than what is to follow, as well as the NOFX-ish "Junkie", by the time "Resting Easy" starts (the third track) the band are up and running at full throttle, occasionally slowing down a bit to ensure that it's not all about speed but maintaining a decent pace throughout. With "Old Man Jam", they even manage to invoke a sort of Charlie Harper vibe, both through the vocals and the use of a harmonica–again, a nice addition.

With "Resting Easy" being matched by the excellent trio of tracks "My Way", "Codependence" and "Robbing Graves", there is enough strength in depth here to show that even with this being their seventh album, Sadplant are still able to produce some great songs.

This is a band who have been around for a while, and what's good is that they have a back catalogue that appears to be freely available on their website–definitely a good start to 2011.