Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Antagonizers Hold Your Ground Review

Antagonizers ATL
Hold Your Ground ep
Longshot Records
Review by hutch
The first cut is named, “Hate City Rock”, and well, that’s what you get. For just under 10 minutes, four songs, that model is repeated. Ain’t nothing too slick in the production. This has the gloss of a bar fight. Hold Your Ground is gritty and catchy; mixing fury and fun. Adrenaline fueled punk is forged onto wax by four vets of the scene.

The Atagonizers ATL is the bastard child of US scene forefather, Zachary Bodhan. They have put out two splits on defunct labels (One with the Main Street Saints’ lost tapes) and a self-released EP a few years ago; but this is on a proper label, Longshot. Lyrics and an insert accompany a fresh splattered forty-five of red, white and black.

The songs are angry, hard driven tunes with thin, crisp production. Harnessing the band’s live energy, the production approach is minimal. No fancy knob twisting would improve these songs. No filters or effects, just allowing the individuals play their asses off. The listener definitely feels The Antagonizers’ rocking in unison, not separately tracked, to unleash the impact of standing in front of The Antagonizers drenched in sweat and beer.

The songs combine raucous fervor that elicits rumbles, driving fast, and whiskey shots. Song lyrics reveal tales of standing up for your beliefs. “City Boy” ha a chunky riff, reliant on pounding drums, that add a’77 punk/hardcore dfeel to a sing along gem. Hold Your Ground is a fast, but composed, string of tracks that become a soundtrack of fighting for that brash punk rock spirit still thriving.


RIYL: Count Bishops, Eater, Dictators, One Way System, Cockney Rejects,  Anti-Heros, Misfits, Turbo ACs, Whiskey Rebels, Kraut

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