As you may or may not have noticed, we don’t do a lot of CD reviews around here. Partly because I feel “what makes ME qualified to say what music is good, bad or in between”? Basically, I’m just a fan who knows what I like and on occasion I’ll share the love of a particular bit of music with others.
What music gets my motor running may or may not even fit in your gas tank and visa versa. There are so many ub-genres of punk, it sometimes seem a moot point, but one of the biggest joys I get out of punk music are
1) being turned onto new music and artists and
2) turning people on to new music and artists.
So here goes.
You may have been reading our blog last April 2011 we were in Trinidad & Tobago and spent a lot of time with the ONLY punk band for the whole island nation of just over a million people. That band was Anti-Everything and those guys took really good care of us while we were on their home turf, picking us up from the airport, showing us around and even took us around town to try some of their legendary Trini cuisine including Roti, Shark-N-Bake and Pigs Feet Souse (yup, I tried it).
But beyond being good guys, I was super impressed by the intelligent lyrics and good music these guys had been consistently cranking out in a place more known for Carnival and Calypso than than a Punk Pit and Hardcore Music.
These guys are no slouch musicians and their lyrics are biting commentary for the corruption that is rife in Trinidad and, indeed it appears, much of the world. When you hear an Anti-Everything song telling it like it is, you almost feel yourself going “ouch that hurts” and almost feeling sorry for greedy, scumbags the world over… almost.
Lets just say I’m glad I’m on their side. I would NOT want them to write a song about what an a&&hole I am. If someone was to be assigned to write a theme song about Kony 2012, it should be these guys. You get the point.
When we were there, the guys were working on their new CD “Children of a Globalised World” and it was released late November 2011. We are just now getting around to writing about it, partly because I’ve been super busy and partly because I like to have a few months to listen to a CD and let the music sink into my thick if not overly large brain. I like to let music marinate and build some grooves through my grey matter. It helps me separate the bubble gum from the real stuff.
In this case, I don’t think anyone would call Anti-Everything’s “Children of a Globalised World” bubblegum and I think many might agree it was worth the wait.
The lyrics speak truth to power, in a place where that might not necessarily be the prudent thing, with songs like “(The Honourable) Crime Minister”… an absolute classic (take a listen on our sound-cloud page HERE)
Other titles I dig include “Silent Streets” and “Starving Youth” and all in all there are 12 really, really strong tracks on this album, including one we featured in the “Punktology” Free Cuba Now! compilation, called “Ratchet Design”
Trinidad may be small but the sound these guys put out is not. It’s smart, it’s hard core, it’s in your face and it’s hard to ignore. I really invite you to give the CD a listen. It’s for sale over at i-Tunes.
And don’t forget their other really fine, earlier release “The International Conspiracy to Push You Down” featuring a couple of my favorites “Punk Rock Sucks” and “New Generation”.
It’s not everyday you hear a punk band that can seamlessly include the sound of Caribbean calypso and the steel drum and still make the music sound both angry and melodic at the same time. I think these guys would be worth a listen on that basis alone, but judge for yourself and check the guys from Trinidad out… you just might like them.