The Australian punk music scene has been become somewhat of a joke. Such a crisis has led me to make the decision to disassociate myself with it until the current trend dies, and it will. A pretentious move I know, but allow me to elaborate on the situation. Every square inch of my favourite music stores are occupied by fashion obsessed thirteen-year-olds, drooling over the new Parkway Drive and Story of the Year releases. Terrible Atreyu wannabe bands playing to bandana-clad ninja fighters in large circles imitating Chuck Norris moves or a second-rate David Carradine. Makeup, girls pants and this thing <3 (!)...I can't handle this shiznit. I'm sure this goes on everywhere, but it's only just now getting really, really big here. The vast majority of bands who categorize themselves under this genre play generic metalcore or boring as fuck new wave emo. Let me introduce you the minority.
Nearly a decade in the making, consisting primarily of them touring their asses off to an ever-growing, welcomely diverse fanbase, the Disables have finally released their debut album. Their only previous release The Lackey Country was well received, but couldn't keep fans amused for long. The band posted two tracks on their sites, "Reason for the Treason" and "Damned If You Do," which was enough to make fans near soil themselves in anticipation. Now the album has finally been released, and I can't imagine any Disablephile being disappointed in the results.
The album starts off as it does with the band's live shows with the quick paced political anthem "Asio." It sounds nearly as good as it does live, and if it doesn't get you enthused and shouting along to the chorus, I would expect you to be either heavily sedated or one of the bad, bad people the song references. The two aforementioned tracks follow this, and I recommend that if you are unfamiliar with the group, you should go to their site and download the tracks.
As I am not a fan of track-by-track reviews I shall now cease analysing each individual song and list my personal preferences. Fan favourite "The Girls Don't Like Us Coz We Don't Play Football" is amazing, as are "This Is Your Life," "Bankrupt," "Steal the Mic"...in fact, they are all great tracks in their own rights. My only disappointment is that their cover of Sting's "I Hung My Head" is not included, though I suspect this is due to legal reasons.
At this point I should probably point out the musical characteristics of the band. They play straight-outta-the-`70s punk rock, mixed with the newer, more experimental variations on the genre á la Against Me! They also have their own unique spin, that being the heavy Australian Accents. I feel this is one of the band's best traits, as it demonstrates the cultural identity that most Australian bands lack.
I can honestly say that this is one of my favourite releases of 2005, regardless of genre. It's the second best thing to their amazing live show; any fan of "true punk" should definitely pick up a copy to support a dying breed: Good Australian punk music.
I'm eagerly awaiting the followup; I just hope it doesn't take another ten years.