Epitaph – 24 Sept 2021
A great, fun record that doesn't mince words.
With the band name The Muslims and a record called Fuck These Fuckin' Fascists, which features artwork with Johnny Rotten getting punched in the face, you might know everything you need to know about this record just by looking at it.
The Muslims, formed in 2017, already have three full-length records in their catalogue and, for album #4, they signed to Epitaph which will probably give the band even more deserved attention. As the title suggest, this band doesn't like to mince words, or bury them in irony or intellectualism. Their lyrics are extremely to the point and if one paragraph will have to sum up the entire record it's probably this part of the song Unity:
Unity unity
That is why they yell at me
In my grave six feet deep
Shot on site by their police
Musically, the band draws on old school, sloppy and noisy sound: it sounds like three people playing a basement show with a crowd consisting of 10 people who are all too drunk to mosh. (Damn, I miss shows). That doesn't mean The Muslims can't play their instruments well. The bassline in the title track proves that they know what they are doing. Their songs are also very catchy, as shown in the extremely earwormy song “Illegals.”
The punk scene is well known for its social commentary on things like oppression and the political landscape but it seems to be, at least where I am from (The Netherlands – ed.), to be dominated by the white males. With the Muslims being a muslim, queer, POC-band we finally have a band on a major punk label that gives another perspective.
Quirijn's primary focus for TGEFM is on album reviews and band interviews. When he's not writing for the site, he can be found mixing sound at Fiction Studio, mixing up beats for as one part of hip-hop duo Breekpunt, or playing guitar for punk quartet Ink Bomb.