Thursday 2 February 2012

Lockjaw Records Review series pt 2 - Aintuse


Aintuse are an Austrian Punk band from Graz, that began playing music in 2006. Aintuse recorded an EP in 2007 entitled Liberty Stands Still, and then recorded their debut album The Prophets of Truth, in 2011 for Lockjaw Records.

The first thing that springs to mind when you hear The First Song is Pennywise or Bad Religion. The vocals do remind you off those two bands and the instrumentation is typically punk, fast and bouncy. This is very much punk music from those days when punk was catchy and fun, before it lost it's meaning amongst a barrage of pop bands, masquerading as punk. The production even makes you think of those old Offspring records. The fact that every member of Aintuse provides vocals, helps make it a more riotous records.

The songs are short and sharp, there's no unnecessary heft and the band get straight to the point. There even a hint of glam/driving rock in the riffs of third track Fuck The ***ism. Sometimes the vocals do drown out the instruments, but then with four vocalists, that’s really no surprise.

This album will appeal to fans of different music, as it's punky enough to appeal to punks and loud enough to appeal to those who like their tunes turned up to 11! The songs certainly lend themselves well to the live setting too, with lots of shout-along parts and opportunities to pogo.

There are also some good, varied guitar riffs included in songs like New Direction, that have a low-fi, garage punk sound. Track nine #$&"! is a brief interlude, which moves swiftly into some great thrashy riffs at the start of View From Nowhere. In penultimate tack Voluntary Arrest, there's even a homage to Pantera with some great, sludgy vocals. They whip out a good solo during closing track Messiah's Fairy Tale, which shows of their instrumental skill. The song ends abruptly and closes out with a samples and singing that reminds me of chamber music.

Aintuse don't let the pace slip at all, the momentum carrying them through all 12 songs in under half an hour. Overall, I like really like this album. If you want music to have fun to, that doesn't take itself too seriously, but still has a solid message, you could do a lot worse than listen to this album. It also shows the variation that exists on Lockjaw's roster at the moment, which is definitely worth checking out.  


If you want to check out Aintuse, you can hear the songs Make It Right and Live Your Life from this album of their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/aintuse and the album is available through Lockjaw records at http://www.lockjawrecords.co.uk.


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