The group are one of the finest rock bands Wales has ever produced and they push forward with the no-nonsense approach that has rewarded them with a true legion of fans.
'Sound wise I think the sound is much the same as all our albums,' frontman, Marcus Howells told the Archive. 'We went into the studio, rehearsed the tracks and then recorded them while they were fresh. It's back to basics in that sense.'
Coping with the lock-down due to the current Covid 19 crisis has been a nightmare for a band who are normally close knit with no chance to rehearse or get together in any form, but perversely these strange times have seen a surge of fans buying merchandise and cherry-picking the back cataloug. All the same the band have hardly been idle.
'We've got a half a dozen new tracks ready to record,' Marcus told the Archive. 'We're chomping at the bit to get back into the studio. For now, though the message is: Stay safe and keep the faith.'
So while we wait for the virus to vanish and the new tunes to drop, let's take a look at the ten tracks that make up Back to Basics.
The album kicks off with, Back to basics - I'm going back to basics, back to my roots - the lyrics intertwine with a driving guitar led beat that delivers on the thematic sense of a return to punk's year 0. It's an excellent opener that assaults the ears and whets the appetite for all that will follow.
Murderer comes next and once again this a straight forward rocker with some great truly ambitious guitar work in the middle eight. The track attacks the barbaric practice of fox hunting and especially those horse bothering dick-less twats in their red tunics. Tally ho, boys!
Homeless is up next and sees the band bringing their social conscience to the fore in a tumultuous cacophony of cymbals, drums and screaming guitars.
Uncle Tom follows and this is once again another great rocker told from the perspective of a young girl who is being abused by her uncle. It a dark subject matter that the band handles well.
Flip the striking looking coloured vinyl and we're straight into side opener, Bullshit which is a track that displays true anger - no hope for you, you've got nothing to do.
Heroes Welcome comes next and this laments the fact that societal changes mean that we seem to have forgotten the fact that we owe a debt to all those who have served on the various battle fields to protect our freedom. They gave him a heroes welcome when he came home from the war, but that was then and this is now.....the song ends with The Last Post which is haunting given the themes of the track it follows.
Next we have Strange Town, which to me is a standout which calls to mind early Clash tunes. It's a straight in your face rocker than propels itself with an effective lead guitar riff. I'm loving this track but then the entire platter is consistently good.
The final track to round of a great album is Start a War (see embedded video above) and this is a excellent album closer. 'Start a war, send the poor, don't you know what you're fighting for.' It's a catchy track that will have the listener singing along after only a few listens, but the powerful message is not lost amongst the addictive melody that carries the song.
Back to Basics then is another great addition to an already impressive back catalogue from the Welsh punkers. Despite it's title it's not really a change in style, a return to the early days but rather more of what the band does best and that's delivering truthful, melodic anger and vitriol that will have fans clamouring for more - Oi, the boys are back!
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