his is, as the PR promises, fast, technical and politically charged punk rock — and I think it’s about as perfect a punk album as you could want. Sharp riffs, lyrics that actually mean something, and a singer who can genuinely sing, handling both the loudest and the quieter sections (the latter admittedly brief).
The opening track is “Silence = Compliance”, so you get the picture straight away. It kicks off with a fast snare roll, drops straight into a razor-sharp riff and then Oli’s vocals take over. They’re musically skilled too: a mid-song breakdown gives the drummer and lead guitarist a brief moment of glory. Other song titles include “Ally v Alibi”, “Tolerance” and “Bullshit Revolution”.
The band behind her are rock-solid, but the songs all belong to Oli, whose powerful voice leads every track into battle.
On paper she sounds like many a pop singer (Kim Wilde springs to mind), but she’s completely on top of the noise raging behind her. The band seem to prefer anonymity, so all I know is that they are Basti, Jens, Vik and Tommy.
I think the album works so well because the musicians are technically accomplished, offering more than just standard head-banging punk; early punk bands like Buzzcocks and Magazine had that quality too.
They’ve played Manchester Punk Festival in the past, so local punk fans might already have seen them.
See melonball.bandcamp.com – a bit of a must for punk fans.
