Vinyl Wednesday #46 – Mindless Attack "S/T 7"
While Mindless Attack is kinda-sorta on hiatus, their self titled 7″ originally released in February of 2013 is still totally killer! When I think about quintessential Philly punk rock, these guys fulfill all of my expectations and supersede them all at the same time. Their sound is raw, in your face and completely pissed at the status quo. The drumming is chaotic, their bass lines rumble, the guitars are turned all the way up with killer solos and the quasi-political / self introspective vocals are yelled with absolute fury.
Starting off the A-Side is the staight ahead, all killer no filler track “Kill Count.” With an awesome heavy guitar riff and punk drumming right off of the bat, it sets the tone for the record in a really amazing way. “400 new kill count, another dead kid on the ground another dead, another died, but no one else seems to ask why.” is just an example of the song’s theme of life in poverty that breeds crime and death. The lyrics in this song point out a lot about the problems in our society that need to be solved, yet the frustration and anger on the track comes from the fact that nobody is really trying to do anything about it other than shooting down people who’ve become the victims of their own environment. With a short bass led intro “Consumer Induced Poverty” kicks the pace into high gear, with faster than lightning drumming and guitar riffs as well as solos that completely destroy! “My free time’s spent TV watchin’ / Commercials tell me what I’m wantin’ / It seems I want the new i-phone / I want to be judged by what I own / I’m just a good company man, spend my money fast as I can” kind of makes me laugh pathetically, as it’s totally true… The 10 second of “Love” is as quick and to the point of any song I’ve ever listened to. It starts with a quick stick click and a ripping punk progression that is a condensed version of their sound with as much tension and ferocity as their other songs in one compact time span. Obviously this track is more about the darker side of love than the good aspects of it with the lyrics “Fucking bitch, you lied to me / But I’m not mad ’cause now I see / The world for what it really is / There is no love, it don’t exist.” To end the A-Side, “Destined to Fail” again is a high energy punk anthem about how their vocalist can’t get ahead. With the line “Born to lose, destined to fail, take me out of this living hell” it paints a picture of endless struggle without any results.
Flip the record and the more angular riffed approach on “Don’t Tell Me What To Do” shows off the band’s diversity in their sound. The solo drumming intro combined with a guitar solo that absolutely rips and the vocals compliment it perfectly with the lyrics, Iit’s my life, it’s my life, don’t tell me what to do……..FUCK YOU!” Returning to a full force, in your face track, “I Can’t Get My Head Straight.” The song writing on this track is completely on point as there are parts that take the music down only to launch the chorus into the higher than it ever could be if the whole song was punk-as-fuck straight through. The lyrics prove the song title in the last line of the second verse when it’s yelled, “Had to choose between beer and food and I drank all my choice this afternoon /Break my back to make another man rich and I have to come home to some nagging bitch.” Finally, “Mindless Attack” ends the 7″ with some of the fastest drumming and guitar riffs on the album! It ends with a monstrously noisy guitar solo, awesome bass line and a drum solo that fades out finishing off the 7″ in the best way possible!
All in all, I really hope that Mindless Attack reforms and plays more shows! This EP, while released about two years ago, absolutely stands up to the current state of music in Philly as if it were released yesterday! If and when they come back we’ll absolutely keep you up to date on it. Until then you can get the 7″ here or at Sit and Spin Records and check out the 7″ below in it’s digital form.
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