The
Rival Mob- Mob Justice tape review
After seeing an ungodly amount of
hype for this band, I decided to see if it was truly warranted. The intro did not grab me very well- the bass
was kind of inaudible, and there is a dire need for more bass in hardcore, and
in general. The first real track was
pretty fucking gnarly- even the very timely breakdown had some good riffs, and
the faster punk parts were rough and could be a dead ringer for an SSD or
experimental Deep Wound song. “Boot
Party” is a tiresome “don’t talk shit” song, but at least hardcore kids are
still into Doc Martens, I suppose. I
like fast, and this song was one long breakdown. “Be Somebody” returns to what this band seems
to do well- fast enough, breaks down enough, and apparently ‘hard’ enough;
imagine an east coast, straight edge, less bleak Cold As Life. “Fake Big” has an important message, but
again, it feels like one very long breakdown (i.e. having one tempo for the
entire duration of the song), and that’s fucking boring. “We’re the Boys” is, I believe, a cover of an
Oi! song (if it isn’t a cover, you fooled me), and they manage to make Oi!
sound somewhat modern- I’ll raise a glass of pop and sing this (yes, pop- you
all have it wrong everywhere else). “Philcore
for Philcore” sounds exactly like an NYHC outtake- it seems almost tongue-in-cheek.
Ultimately, this band has some high-echelon
hardcore that really rips; then, they have some very humdrum one-tempo songs I
don’t care for. Definitely worth
checking out and getting into, but worth the endless hype? Highly debatable. Come to our fair city and play a set- that’d
be the ultimate tie-breaker.
-Aunty Social
