Some bands live fast and die young-- while others only get better with age. Such is the case with the River CIty Rebels, back on the scene with their third full length release on victory. No Good, No Time, No Pride is a twelve song disc that comes from the heart of these northeastern rebels. I bought this disc on the release day and couldnt wait until i got home to play it. Into the discman it goes.. here goes my review.
After last year's 'playing to live, living to play' the band went through the usual lineup changes that have become apart of rebel tradition. The lineup was trimmed from 7 to 6 and singing duties were picked up by Dan 'the bopper' O'Day. As the band's founder and principle songwriter, it's a move that makes sense, on 'ng,nt,np' Dan leads the rebels through 12 new songs about love, life, and shitty jobs. The record was recorded with Darian Rundall who produced 'Us Bombs THE WORLD" as well as the last couple pennywise discs.
The album starts of with the great live song 'sucha bore', often dedicated to the 'cool kids at shows who only stand in the back' , the 'only in the scene to be seen types'. the song has a high energy call and response chorus, classic gang vocals in typical rcr style. The bridge contains a spoken word rant by Duane Peters of US BOMBS fame; 'dont stand out- its not allowed. for chrissake dont draw attention to yourself. one word: predicatable' . After hearing this line my pleasent smirk has become a complete smile and the windows are rolled down and the music is turned up.
Next up is 'aborted', another rocker punk song about how Dan's mom said he should have been. This is no laughing matter and you can tell that Dan and the rebels are playing with a touchy topic. The song closes with a somber hornline and the line ' im a dayglo bastard fetus, a rotten fucken mistake'. This song seems to be closure for Dan, after recording "daddy was a drunk' on the last record.
My favorite part of this record are tracks 4,5,6 and 7. Very catchy songs with great choruses- the best of all being track 7, Pass the Basket. This song starts off witha smooth and melodic horn hook- and the music has a 'clash-esque' ska vibe. The song is about the catholic church and recent events tied to that institutuon.
The only downside to this record is the lack of any fast paced songs. Most are mid-paced, but are great to sing along with while driving. I recommend this record to fans of the Clash, Social Distortion, the U.S Bombs and of course the first two RCR records.