Brassneck Records/Bloated Kat Records, June 12, 2020
Don Blake do the skate punk thing like champs.
Don Blake hails from Manchester, England, but they could've just as easily come from 1990's southern California. On their new EP Anti-Charisma Wholesale, the band rips on 6 pop/skate punk songs with drums set to stun and guitars buzzing and shredding throughout. And they set themselves apart with unique lead vocals. Rather than the more typical snotty or forceful voice, the vocals here are pretty soft and unassuming. Delivered without affectation, they come across as genuine and genuinely melancholy, fitting for the lyrics within.
Anti-Charisma Wholesale is set to stun from the start. The opener, “The Future Is A Closed Door” kind of reminds me of something from an old No Use For A Name record. It's got a great melody and harmonies to die for. Plus, the bridge has some fantastic lead guitar. And all this set over top light speed drums. “Haze Again” is another stunner. Opening with a sort of gated lead guitar, it catapults into top speed with more great melodies and vocal harmonies that bring to mind Lagwagon. Both “Almost Got ‘Em” and “Penitent One” have guitar parts that remind me fondly of NOFX. And “Polaroid”, the closer, makes wonderful use of tempo changes, shifting from lightning-flash fast, to slow, to driving mid-tempo effortlessly. Much like “The Future”, “Polaroid” drops some guitar that flat-out shreds on the bridge. But my favorite on here is “A Comfortable Lie”. “Lie” opens quietly enough, with just some solemn guitar and bass before going fast. There's more Lagwagon-style vocal harmonies and rhythm shifts that seem tight and off-kilter, but those rhythm shifts end up pulling me in and are some of the most memorable moments on the record.
For all the cool music, Don Blake don't forget the words. Line after line of intelligent considerations and enviable vocabulary deliver ruminations on mental health and personal struggle, a sort of Bad Religion for the personal rather than the political. “The Future Is A Closed Door” touches on self-doubt with “on the edge of a paradigm shift, my mind ablaze, my thoughts adrift, that voice I can't quite trust sounds like my own”. “Penitent One” does the same, singing “sorry that I made you sad, I didn't think I was that bad, despite having been put through hell, it's good to see you're doing well”. And on “Haze Again” and “Polaroid”, the conversation shifts further, with lines about giving up (“how can anyone find energy to try” from “Polaroid) and trying to push back against bad impulses (“you'd be so proud now, I'm opening up, I don't wanna do this again, just because I don't, doesn't mean I won't” from “Haze Again”). It's tough stuff, but it's considered and thoughtful.
Anti-Charisma Wholesale is a really cool record. I grew up in the 90's, listening to lots of Lookout! Records kind of stuff and lots of Fat and Epitaph pop/skate punk bands. Today, I still listen to a lot of new Lookout!/Ramones-esque bands, that's sort of my go-to. But I rarely find myself listening to new pop/skate punk bands from the Fat/Epitaph lineage, instead just grabbing my old records when the mood strikes. Don Blake is going to change that. They do the sound well.
You might like this if:
- You like the idea of a 90's pop/skate punk sound with a unique voice delivering the words
- You like thought-provoking lyrics more personal in nature
You might not if:
- You were never into or have left behind the Fat Wreck sound
- You struggle getting into thoughtful and/or personal lyrics
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He's very secretive, he might be an alien.
