SHREDS. step back

SHREDS

Step Back!

Engineer Records / Some Dude Records

 15/04/24

A serrated guitar riff greets the listener before a pent-up skate-punk groove joins the thrash-inflected party. Jim enters, rocking the mic with street-poet narratives detailing the minutiae of the mundane and everyday irritants that slowly eat away at your soul, nibble by nibble, until you feel compelled to yell out loud at the absurdity of it all. Imagine Michael Douglas’ character in Falling Down, had he been born in the East Midlands, fronting a Cali crossover set and you’ll get an idea of the vibe. It dials-in the tone for the twenty-minutes to come, and boy is it a gnarly tone.

Shreds’ on record reflect the trademark blend of 80s hardcore and hyperactive nature of their live incarnation, all sharp edges, manic intensity, and constant movement. There’s no real let up in energy across this debut album, more slight shifts of focus within individual songs. Take, for example, Stop Talking To Me and This Is The World Today which paint a dynamic soundscape via tension-fuelled buildups and a furious release in the breakdowns. There’s plenty of grinding riffs to feast on, but they’re shot through with a sense of melody, even at the weightiest of moments. The mindset and atmosphere shifts somewhat with Sock It To Me, switching up the personal frustration for a more philosophical one on a bass-driven melodic ripper that flirts with the more ‘emotional’ side of punk’s mood coin. 

The album’s centre anchors around Step Back, a song that smashes two-step and double-time riffs together in a relay of tempo changes, and Bored of Skating which looks to see if the grass is greener on the other side via 37 seconds of fuzzy, head-nodding, irreverence. From here it’s a balls to the wall race through the hardcore playbook, with the British influences of D-beat and crust battling it out against youth crew vibes, Easy Coast muscle, and a smart-ass, knowingly obnoxious West Coast style. KO Pills, the standout track on the band’s first EP, embodies the band’s style by mixing everything you’d expect from a ‘hardcore punk’ band in two handy minutes of upstrokes, stomping breaks, and a dark lyrical arc. It’s somewhat mirrored by This Is Not A Test, although the tempo remains at a steady two-step until the midway point, and introspection is booted out in favour of a rallying cry for the underdogs and under-valued.

The band end on a furious riot, sampling J.K. Simmons’ channelling of Sergeant Hartman for his Whiplash conductor role, before Thrashmaster delivers the perfect riposte to the calculated control of sheet music played without feel and personality. This is music that is nothing but feel and personality.

It’s a blazing album that nods to the timeless purity of plugging in and rocking out. The band cover a lot of ground in a short space of time, but never outstay their welcome and they bring an infectious energy to proceedings. Distilling your obvious influences whilst injecting enough personality into the brew to make it sound fresh and distinctly ‘you’ is no mean feat, but Shreds do just that on Step Back. Get on board with Shreds!

Judge for yrself: https://shredshc.bandcamp.com/album/step-back