Never Again - No!

Never Again are another French hardcore band from Dijon. Again, they feature Bertrand Baudrion on Who Needs Maps? and Orchidscent Records. Their eight track album was released in March of this year and has long since sold out. It was a joint release between Orchidscent Record and Old School Records.

Tracklist -

1. Take It Away
2. Beer Color
3. Di - way
4. Infection
5. Fred & Jamy
6. Buddy
7. The Wheel
8. An Empty Diary

Never Again's sound if very different to that of Who Needs Maps?, the music is more akin to garage punk than to hardcore. The main vocals are made of very fast spoken word as well as hardcore screams. The guitar is pure rock n roll and sometimes they have a bit of psychobilly about them. Take It Away is a quick intro of a song and it's pace carries through to Beer Color.

When the hardcore screams kick in, the sound it pretty caustic, but there are moments quiet reflection, when the guitar is left to play. The recording sounds like it was done live, as the drums sound like their in the room with you. Never Again keep up a very frenetic pace and their punkier edge shine through during third song Di-Way. Like Who Needs Maps? from earlier, they too don't use Americanised vocal influences to emphasise their brand of hardcore, choosing to make sure their native accents do the talking for them.

The songs don't stick around for long either and before you know it your at the midway point of No! Infection seems to be more brutal in it's delivery, the mixture of clean spoken and shouted vocals works really well and those pounding drums battle with the raging guitars for supremacy. The way the band slows things down and grooves halfway through is good to hear and they even throw in some subtle ska influenced sections too. It's all good in the variation stakes. They show their off-kilter skills towards the end of Infection, which sees them end on a moody note.

The second half of the record follows a similar formula, with the speed Fred & Jamy showing their rock n roll credential once more, leaving you in know doubt that they could rouse a great party and pit at the same time, especially with that guitar solo that ends the song. I'd liken this to a lot of old skater punk that used to be on the soundtracks to the Tony Harks Playstation games at time, although Never Again do have more musical intelligence and use it well, to craft great songs, with energy and emotion coursing through them.

The Wheel is full of big sounding, chunky riffs and more breakneck drumming. The undercurrent of melody from the guitars helps make this an easier listen, especially for newcomers to hardcore but it should also appeal to seasoned hardcore fans, who appreciate something different. By the time you reach An Empty Diary, you've been put through the ringer just by listening to this record, as you can't help but bang your head with abandon as the good time vibes take hold! I thoroughly recommend that you either track down a copy of this record if you can, or just listen to it on their Bandcamp page, as it's great fun!

So as I mentioned above, you can stream the whole record via Never Again's own Bandcamp page below:-

Never Again can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Never-Again.