Memphis based label Goner Records is building up quite a reputation for distributing some of the best garage punk around. Last year’s Alice and Friends, the debut by US act The Box Elders was a real find, expertly blending Ramones style sing-a-longs with the energy of 60s punk pioneers The Monks.
And this year it is the turn of another on their roster, the improbably titled Australian act Eddy Current Suppression Ring, to further add to Goner’s credibility.
At times silly, at other times introspective Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s third album Rush To Relax is above all driven by a sense of honesty and draws heavily from the early UK punk scene of the 1970s. Howard Devoto-era Buzzcocks is perhaps the biggest point of reference.
Second track ‘I Got a Feeling’, is the spit of The Buzzcock’s ‘Breakdown’ from the Manchester punk legends’ first EP Spiral Scratch. Opening track ‘Anxiety’ is another in spirit of that seminal slice of 70s punk.
There’s more to the band as well, a bit of The Fall here, a bit of Wire there, and as with the Box Elders it is hard to escape the influence of The Monks, especially on the tribal drumming on the title track.
But this is not just stuck in the past. There’s something modern about the album as well. The crazy, ironic work ethic of the more well off in the industrialised world, who work themselves into the ground for the sake of relaxing afterwards. It’s a pretty odd way to go about life and deserves the ridicule it gets on the album.
The track sequence really hammers this home, starting with the frantic opening track ‘Anxiety’ and ending with ‘Rush to Relax’, which fades out into around 20 minutes of the sound of the sea and seabirds. I’m fairly relaxed at the moment so I didn’t need the full 20 minute come down, but it is there for those that do.
‘Gentlemen’ is another standout. Sounds like those odd songs by early King Missile, as lead singer Brendan Huntley lists as many simple and gentlemanly things he can think of. “I’ll cook you dinner if you want to eat, I’ll even do extra veggies if you don’t like meat.”
Not all Rush To Relax is as good, but there’s enough classic punk influences and energy to take the listener through to the end and the seashore that awaits.
7.5/10
by Joe Lepper, Mar 2010
Related Posts
