Review Summary: United Nations continue right where they last left off with Never Mind the Bombings Here’s Your Six Figures
During the promotion of the self-proclaimed emo-power-violence band United Nations in 2008, confusion nearly outweighed anticipation. If you asked ten people that knew of United Nations the question, ‘what members were actually in the band,’ you would probably get eight or so different responses. Even today, apart from Geoff Rickly, the members remain somewhat cloudy. However, if there is one certainty surrounding United Nations, it is the fact they love pissing off people in high places. Their self-titled album featured the controversial altercation to the Beatles album,
Abbey Road, while
Never Mind the Bombings Here’s Your Six Figures blatantly rips off the cover art of the Sex Pistol’s
Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols. That claim is only strengthened by their band name, which caused multiple band related webpages to be deleted. Past that, they are just attempting to melt faces and play some tunes for old times sake, and United Nations do that damn well.
Before getting into the thick of it, taking care of housekeeping issues first, in just under twelve minutes,
Never Mind the Bombings Here’s Your Six Figures sure goes by rather slowly, and that is a perk. However, do not be fooled by its shortened length, as the lasting impression is equal if not greater. United Nation’s cutthroat approach remains the same, but with a little more pop in each riff and fill, and I will be damned if Ben Koller is NOT the drummer on this album. Koller is known for brilliantly brutal drum fills and mind-blowing combinations while keeping pace without a hint of sloppiness, all of which is reflected on this album. This is most notably found on “Pity Animal” and “Never Mind the Bombings, Here’s Your Six Figures,” whom are the beneficiaries of such superb drumming. Elsewhere, Rickly showcases why he makes Thursday so unique with his melodic tendencies in “O You Bright & Risen Angel,” which is probably the most consistent and listener friendly track. In other areas, there are minor flaws, such as a rather low vocal mix and unintelligible lyrics at times, but this album was intended for headbanging, not singing. Even so, the overall clarity is much clearer and less gritty, per se, than
United Nations.
In all honesty, there are not enough discernable differences to keep fans from the last album away from
Never Mind the Bombings Here’s Your Six Figures. After all, United Nations are not trying to create this side project in hopes to reinvent a genre, rather relive it with their owns ideas. The bottom line is that United Nations are as rad as ever and likely won’t stop in the near future; so keep ‘em coming gentlemen.
