04 Nov 2022 – Defy Extinction Records
Crust punks return with a muddled message (FFO: hardcore punk, d-beat and crust)
Some bands evoke vivid memories of specific times and places. For me, the Philadelphia punks R.A.M.B.O. will forever be associated with summer 2004 and the First Unitarian Church. Between sets at Pointless Fest, I travelled to the sanctuary to escape the summer heat and pungent smell of crust and punk kids. There, I dug through bins of records in search of R.A.M.B.O.'s debut LP Wall of Death the System, released on 625 Thrashcore. I eventually gave up and purchased a number of thrash and youth crew seven inches instead.
R.A.M.B.O.'s singer, Tony Pointless, was the organizer of and namesake for Pointless Fest. The following year, the band released their sophomore effort End It, which offered 19 tracks of clever tongue-in-cheek hardcore. The years thereafter, the band broke up and the members went their different ways.
After 16 years, R.A.M.B.O. have risen from their grave to rage anew. The members are older and more educated (frontman Tony Pointless has degrees in biology and horticulture), and most have families and children. It's interesting to see how their ideals have matured during their breakup, and I am almost positive that this influences the environmentalist themes underpinning the LP.
Let's start with the good: fast thrash-y songs are still here, like “River of Birds”, “Cattle Tyrant” and the effective album closer “Biomass”. While they're fewer and farther between, the band still trots out clever song titles like “The End is Nye” and “Authorities > Authority”. Most tracks are in the 90-120 second range, with the longest track “Love and Science 1” clocking in at a crisp 2:46.
R.A.M.B.O. has also slowed down the tempo on several tracks. On songs like “Imperialist Pigs in Space” and “Outlive the Bastards”, or even the breakdown to “Love and Science 1”, the band mellows the pace. I am unsure whether this was part of their maturation or a concession to their aging audience who still want to dance at shows— but as an aging punker with a bum knee, I appreciate any concession.
For the middling, the instrumental production on Defy Extinction is far cleaner than any past effort. Whether this is due to time spent in separate studios, improvements in recording technology or the budget of indie behemoth Relapse Records, I'm not sure. It makes for a different listening experience for the longtime fan.
Towards the less impressive end of the spectrum, the LP all sort of sounds the same. Tony Pointless' vocals doesn't benefit from the same crisp production as the rest of the band. In the absence of distinguishing vocals, the LP all starts to sound the familiar— comforting d-beats, palm muted chords and chantable gang vocals I can't quite understand.
For that reason, I struggled to find a real standout track from Defy Extinction. I ultimately landed on “Q. And Children and A. Real Children”, which I feel manages to capture the R.A.M.B.O. of old in their new incarnation. Following the introductory strains of the song's eventual chord progression, drummer Jared Shavelson provides tidy work on the toms. Tony Pointless leads the gang vocals, but guest singer Nicole Enriquez provides lead vocals that finally cut through the mix like a machete.
In the end, I feel conflicted. This isn't the R.A.M.B.O. of old—nor should it be—but the band's choices negatively impact their ultimate output. That said, there are far worse comeback efforts (I'm looking at you, Alone in a Crowd), and I don't regret the time spent listening to the LP. I'm sure these songs will slay live, as they are anthems designed to get you dancing and chanting the message. Ultimately however, I think that Defy Extinction might have been better served as a six or seven song EP.
Once hailing from the salty tundra of Syracuse, NY, Ben now calls the DC suburbs his home. He fell in love with punk after listening to Punk-O-Rama 3, Less Than Jake and MXPX in middle school. He loves to slam dance but is too large to stage dive.
When he's not pretending to have exquisite musical taste, he's raising two children, designing RPG products and practicing law. (Who knows if he'll ever get the hang of it.)