Luvdump- Information is Power EP review

Luvdump- Information is Power EP review


It’s very rare to see the creator of a music genre topped by those whom were inspired by them. Who can top The Specials for 2-Tone ska? Youth of Today for youth crew? Discharge for D-beat? The Stooges for proto punk? G.G. Allin for scum punk? It’s hard to make a case for anyone topping these artists at their own genre. One such inventor of the genre, Choking Victim, was on the top of their genre for a long time. Crack rock steady was concocted by them in the early 1990s and perfected with their full-length ‘No Gods No Mangers’ in 1999. Until recently, they stayed on top of their genre. Unfortunately for Stza and crew, they have now been ousted. Luvdump, from Bury St. Edmunds in England, have released a set of music better than Choking Victim at its own genre. The ‘Information Is Power’ EP is a new high-point for crack rock steady.

The opener and title track of the EP, Information is Power, is a non-upbeat song, or rather, does not use any upstrokes or ska riffs; it actually rings of a very clean Aus Rotten. Dual vocals, sometimes guttural choruses and gritty, yet clean guitars and rhythm section set this song apart musically from the rest of the EP. Still, the song fits perfectly philosophy-wise and would be unfitting anywhere else. Gaza (Stop the War) shows the real teeth of the EP, showing the real crack rock steady beat with the punky upstrokes and steady rhythm section over the alternating dual vocals, using both the screechy and Oi!-like punk vocals, which is where Luvdump really triumphs over the rest of the crack rock steady bands. Next is the interlude, ‘Live for Today’, which just serves as a bridge; I might have preferred something a little more complex or a new song entirely, just combining the song to the next track, Burn the Bank$, as an intro. It still serves a legitimate purpose nonetheless. Burn the Bank$ is an anti-capitalist C.R.S. jam; it’s Luvdump’s answer to ‘Money’, and it plays and sounds much better; more danceable, more quotable, just more able altogether. The final track of the EP ‘This is England’ is a re-write of an old song the band did on a previous demo, and it sounds much more refined. However, after the song, the band pauses while the song continues, and six or seven minutes later, the band kicks into another song that rips, although that name isn’t listed. I do somewhat prefer the older version to the twelve and a half minute version, but the world never works out the way it should. The band would do wise to split the tracks into two individual ones instead of one long one with a six-minute interlude.

Despite the couple of shortcoming of the EP, Choking Victim simply cannot hold a candle to this release or this band’s potential. Luvdump is one of the best new bands to check out, play with, or just watch. Hopefully they will pass through Michigan for at least a day-long tour; I imagine the band is insane live if their material here is anything like what it is live.

-Aunty Social