Die Band A.T.H wurde von ehemaligen Mitgliedern der, in
der US Skinhead Szene doch sehr umstrittenen, HC Kompo Tears Of Frustration
ins Leben gerufen. Musikalisch hat die ganze Sache aber wenig mit Hardcore
zu tun, eher mit gutem alte, Rock'n'Roll. Dennoch gefallen mir die 2
schnelleren Stücke besser als der Rest des CD.
A.T.H. ziehen trotz alledem so ziemlich ihr eigenes Ding durch, was
es schwer macht sie in irgendeine Schublade einzuordnen. Für Leute
mit einen etwas breiteren Musikgeschmack garantiert kein Fehljauf.
Foier Frei #15.
Sie Stars+Stripes au'm Cover lassen gleich erkennen, wo
es hier langgeht - patriotisch-amerikanisch ! Muzikalisch sind die Jungs
sehr rockig und rollig unterwegs, könnten auch aus Boston kommen
! Nee, dann wären sie ja von Lars Frederiksen produziert und auf
Epitath, so sind sie "nur" auf Pure Impact Records aber das
ist mir auch tausend Mal lieber ! Denn so stechen sie weningstens aus
den vielen Ami-Oi-Bands rasu, mit ihrem völlig eigenen Soud ! Die
Stimme ist zwar für mich erst gewöhnungsbedürftig gewesen,
aber nachdem ich erstmal drin war, hab ich mir die Scheibe auch gleich
nochmals angehört ! Allerdings geht mir mit der Zeit ihrer blöder
USA-Patritismus auf den Geist und wer mich kennt, weiss warum ! Ansonsten
aber ne gute CD, besorgt Euch besser diese, als den 1000. Bruisers-Klon
auf Epitaph/Fat Wreck ! (Note 2)
Lokalpatriot #14.
Decent working class patriotic US rock'n'roll, no more
and no less. Personally I'm more impressed by the band's lyrics and
true intentions than by their actual musical achievements. Don't get
wrong here, it's all played well but it doesn't get me from my chair.
Loving their true patriotic and working class stand, against the liberals
and the communists who raped America since the 60's my respect goes
to these folks who make their upright stand on this CD, but musically
it's no so much my cup of tea. The playtime is not such a problem for
me : they could have played on another hour but it's just not my thing.
Comes with 8 pg lyricbooklet.
Out of Order #4.
Rising from the ashes of one of my all time favorites,
Tears of Frustration comes the heavily hyped NJ Oi!/Rock outfit Across
the Hudson. Gone is the unmistakable Side by Side sound and in something
close to the earlier Skrewdriver recordings with some American style
skinhead rock thrown in. While a bit of a let down, it wasn’t a
total loss. Some of the songs were catchy enough, like Our Side of the
Story as well as Honor America Day but after a while the lack of any
guitar distortion drove me nuts. The sound was so tingly/jangly (and
not in the good Templars sort of way) that it came off as incredibly
thin, and got tired quick. The whole time I kept expecting them to hit
a loud, open chord and start rocking, but it never came. The recording
left much to be desired, those thin ass guitars were way too loud in
the mix and I’m not sure they even had a bass player on about half
the songs. Lyric-wise there was some above average stuff with a bit
of a populist twist, the aforementioned Honor America Day was a tribute
to the 1970 hardhat riot against Pace University hippies, definitely
a great moment in American blue collar history. Another surprise was
the line “Never did I think things would come to this/Here I am
slaving for fucking capitalists/I was young and proud when I learned
a trade and now the dreams of a working man slowly fade away.”
Usually this right-leaning stuff never comes off with anything so provocative,
so definite points are to be awarded there. The album then returns to
the usual predictable Oi! topics covering the typical stuff about how
the US is in decline etc. etc., although the tribute to the Grandpa
on this one is a little better than most Oi! WWII Grandpa songs you
will hear these days. I know this is some people’s bread and butter,
but I don’t know if it’s just because I’m getting older,
or my tastes are being more refined or what. But I’m just burnt
out on the same 4 Oi! themes of beer, byrds, saying how patriotic you
are, and unoriginal tributes to veterans. There’s just gotta be
more folks and if not, at least new ways to say it. There was only one
total bomb, and I mean TOTAL. It was the horrific Average Man that was
something (very remotely) akin to badly played Bon era AC/DC, were it
not bad enough, it then devolved into a free form jam session ending
that reminded of the MC5 meets the Grateful Dead. Don’t know what
they were thinking there. Packaging was, as always is with Pure Impact,
good. All the lyrics, tons of pictures and a cool “Welcome to Jersey”
(perhaps a little reminiscent of the Boss’s “Welcome to Asbury
Park”) thing that ran throughout were all within the ample booklet.
In the end, this release was alright, nothing to get too wound up about.
I think the band’s got tons of potential; they just need to be
way more aggressive musically, invest in better recording and go in
the more original directions with the lyrics that they hinted around
with a little on this one.
Last
Watch.
