Album Review: "Spiteful" by Sonny Vincent & Spite

Spiteful

Do you ever watch Futurama?

See the one where Bender tells his girlfriend, why not? Sure I like a challenge.

Sometimes that's how I feel when it comes to punk rock. It's a challenge for me just to understand it.

A friend of mine, who loves punk rock, likes to tell me that it's not music precisely, but it's an art form all on its own.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this idea and I'm failing miserably.

My introduction to punk was the Sex Pistols and to this day, I cannot understand how anyone enjoys their music at all, but I can get behind bands like the Stooges, Paul Collins Beat Band, etc...

The inside cover speaks for me.

This album kicks off quickly. It's as punchy as a teenager full of beer and full of raucous energy. The kind we all had back when we were 15.

It sets itself apart, to this fairly uninitiated listener by having horns.

They're not just popping up here and there, but they're all over the songs and it gives a great musicality to the music that many of their contemporaries lack.

(I now fully expect someone to yell at me about some proto-punk band that had horns.)

Because of the musicality, songwriting, etc, this doesn't feel like a record made by a group of neanderthals that can't play music or tell you what key their song is in. In that vein, it's reminiscent of the Stooges and Paul Collins.

It's angry and edgy and never quite picks a side between high energy rock and proto punk rock.

I suppose I'll leave that for the experts to decide whilst I enjoy the songs.

Release: 11/4/14
Label: Ultramafic Records
Genre: Punk
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