An incendiary debut album from the Los Angeles anarcho-punks!
We can’t get enough anarcho-punk lately. It was just the other day that we witnessed Subhumans play a raucous gig in London, and now, right on cue, arrives the debut album from Los Angeles crew Gottlieb. They’ve been described as “a politically driven band blending post-punk tension with the ferocity of classic hardcore”, and that sits just fine with us.
From the moment the alarm-like guitar line of the opening ‘Pipe Bomb’ kicks in, the sense of urgency is almost palpable. Imagine the anarcho-punk sound of Crass fused with the angular hardcore of Refused, and you’ll have a rough idea of where Gottlieb are at musically. We especially like the way ‘American Blood’ utterly rages throughout its two minutes, and also recent single ‘I Started Carrying A Knife Today’; the latter is addictive as hell, with its schizophrenic guitar work and impassioned vocals from frontman Andrew Pescara.
They throw the occasional curveball, such as the surprisingly groovesome ‘Dogs Pt 1 (Joy To Distract From Resistance)’, which seems to be custom built to get people moving, and is sure to be a future live favourite. Closing track ‘Sugar Packets‘ is also something of a surprise; the longest track here, starting off with a kind of post-punk sound before building into a hardcore belter.
Whether taking aim at the pressure today’s youth face on ‘Optimized Child’, decrying police and ICE violence on ‘White Vans’, or raging against the oppression of the working class on ‘What Are You Worth?’, they’re never less than convincing. At less than half an hour long, ‘The Far Fallen Fruit’ doesn’t outstay its welcome, and comes across more as a musical mission statement than as a mere record. This is music to shake people out of complacency – and for that, Gottlieb, we salute you.
‘The Far Fallen Fruit’ is out on May 1st – pre-order it HERE.
Main Photo Credit: ALEX WEBSTER
- Pipe Bomb
- What Are You Worth
- American Blood
- Dogs Pt 1 (Joy To Distract From Resistance)
- City On The Hill
- Optimized Child
- Dogs Pt 2 (The Far Fallen Fruit)
- I Started Carrying A Knife Today
- White Vans
- Sugar Packets
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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