FOR THE SECOND HALF OF OUR "FED UP!" SPLIT REVIEW, VISIT THIS LINK!
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Note that because our monthly CD reviews are focused on and devoted to Sault Ste. Marie bands, we won't go into as much detail on The Ripcordz' third of the split as we typically do with our reviews of single-band local releases. That said, as they are the lead band on "Fed Up!", and long-standing local favourites, I'd be remiss to not review their songs and offer my thoughts!
Their other three songs are all older recordings with older lineups, all featuring ex-drummer Francois Demers, and for the originals at least, recorded by Robert Martins. They are "Fuck the USA", (featuring late 1990s bassist Chris Moroz, and previously on the compilation "La Punkerie Vol. 1"), "Man In Black" (featuring current drummer Alex Roy on bass, and from the earlier compilation "North of the Border Vol. 1"), and their cover of Mitsou's "Bye Bye Mon Cowboy" (a bonus track from their live album "Dead or Alive in '92" featuring ex-bassist Danny "Duke" Laflamme.) Of the two originals, I prefer "Man In Black" for it's livelier sound, and glimmers that actually remind me of Motorhead from Paul's vocals and the bass work, but both are solid for longtime fans of The Ripcordz! "Bye Bye Mon Cowboy" was originally a Francophone pop song that was a Canadian chart hit in 1988, and is romantic in tone, so I can only assume that the cover was done ironically. Aside from the French lyrics, you'd never know it was a cover if you weren't familiar with the original song, and it packs a punk wallop!Overall, while The Ripcordz' third of the CD is the shortest (only running for about 15 minutes, with "Decide" at an album low 97 seconds long), it'll definitely please long time fans of the band, and if you didn't know that the latter three songs weren't brand new, you'd never know! Paul's aggressive vocals and guitar riffs drive everything nicely, and Matty and Alex compliment him well on bass and drums, as did ex-members on the old tracks! If you love The Ripcordz' old school punk attack, you should be right at home here, and this is a fitting opening to the "Fed Up!" split!
Second for their third (eighth total) is "Fear Corps", a faster and heavier song that generally works well, with nice charging riffs, solid drumming from Johnny, and an aggressive bite, but it's a little inconsistent. A guitar solo would have broken things up a bit, and I will admit that having J.D. sit out the choruses in favour of backing vocalists may not have been ideal, as they compliment him well, and without him singing there, there was a fair shift in tone. Still, it's a solid track, and will be up the alley of fans of Jack Spades' heavier material! Then we have the split's longest song "Frederick", inspired by the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, and it improves on the first two songs with some more complex songwriting, a darker horror-influenced tone that will remind some listeners of J.D.'s old band Frightlight, and a catchy sing-along chorus! Justin's bass suits this track nicely, Jesse has a solid solo, and aside from an abrupt ending, it definitely holds up the best of the Jack Spades' songs so far!
Their fourth original is "Motorwolf", though rather than Justin's growl of the title after the instrumental prologue, they instead included audio of a bark (I wonder why?) Arguably the most fastest and heaviest song from Jack Spades' section, this would definitely be the song most likely to get a mosh pit going, and Jesse's solo, while short, is his best yet! It's not as diverse as "Frederick", and the title is arguably leaned on too much in the chorus lyrics, but as a blistering speed metal/punk hybrid, it delivers the goods, and is a highlight on "Fed Up!" Their last original here is "Negative Headspace", which opens with a solid and heavy riff which maintains as the band kicks in until the first verse kicks in, and might be my favourite opening of their section! Here, I like the gradual escalations in speed and heaviness as the verses lead into the choruses, and everyone holds up their end of the bargain, but the chorus vocals seem too quiet in the mix.Jack Spades' portion closes with a cover of defunct local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers' song "Ten Commandments" (or just "Commandments"), from their 2000 debut self-titled CD (also, note that Surfers frontman Dustin Jones produced Jack Spades for this split.) Compared to the original (which was fairly fast and aggressive compared to the Surfers' best known songs), the cover is a little longer and has less vocal distortion, though it's largely faithful in structure. It's a solid cover choice to fit Jack Spades' existing sound, and a nice treat to see a local band cover another unrelated local band that shared no identical members! Overall, Jack Spades' contribution to the CD (the longest of the 3 bands too, at around 19 minutes) is a successful follow-up to last year's EP, improving on their base sound with even better production, more of a live intensity, and more technical and diverse songwriting! Songs like "Frederick" and "Motorwolf" definitely led the way for me, but there were some repetitive moments, "Frederick" ended way too abruptly, and backing vocals affected the tone a bit when they led the way.
I hope you guys liked the first half of our "Fed Up!" split review, and we'll wrap things up with a look at Destroilet' third of the split and final summary thoughts on the entire release tomorrow! Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post soon as well!
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