These boys (or this boy? It’s not clear whether this album is the work of a collective or one individual) obviously has a great deal of guitar god records in his/their collection. Echoes of Queen, Guns’n’Roses and early Manic Street Preachers seep out. These are songs about where they come from and the politics of the country they live in. The inadequacy and intolerability of Brown’s Britain are all laid bare and given a good kicking. Laws which are supposed to help us and yet do otherwise are shown up for being the farce that everyone (but, Brown) can see them as being.
This is not, however, a monotone aural tract on life’s grimness and unfairness. Each song spits fire, rocked along on roaring riffs, undercut with vocals which slice through your ears like blue flames through gunmetal. There is talent aplenty on display but nary a whiff of self-indulgence.
There is real power in the playing, too. Everyone on display here knows what their strengths are and they play them to the hilt. The sounds here are a fusion of white noise, power chords and sheer, bloody-minded anger. Make it your New Year’s Resolution to discover these guys.
www.myspace.com/theparadoxofficial
