Review Summary: Melbourne punk outfit's debut release is full of screamingly angry punk jams.
In a world where the term ‘hardcore’ is usually attached to lots of metal acts, it’s refreshing to hear a young group like Clowns show the world where ‘hardcore’ belongs: on an abrasive, unapologetic punk rock record. The music on the album is top-notch and is up there with many of the band’s more popular American counterparts. The subject matter is pretty consistent over the record, pick a target (wealthy, corrupt politicians or business excecutive people, etc.) and scream at them. Standard punk rock fare, done really well. The band comes off really powerfully on the album, which is important, seeing as many ‘punk’ bands these day can’t provide instrumentation that’s half as effective as their lyrics. Fuzzy bass lines and belting guitars ala
Black Flag make the perfect backdrop for the ugly world the band is depicting. The only flaw the record seems to have is it’s lyrics which are badass and well-delivered but often skate on the repetitive side of things. They’re not bad by any means but some may tire of hearing “kill yourself” and “mother ***er” after a while, but if you’re looking for a good kick in the brains, give I’m Not Right a spin, you’ll probably wanna jump around and hit something afterwards.
