Review : CHILDREN – “Hard Times Hangin At The End Of The World”

Children – “Hard Times Hangin At The End Of The World”
released May 12, 2009 on Kemado Records

Like their labelmates The Sword, the guys in Children favor retro stoner thrash riffs with NWOBHM noodling reminiscent of Priest and Maiden. However all in all, I’d say their closest parallel is Bison b.c., when you couple all that with their skater punk aesthetic. They play their guts out, but have some goofy fun too (witness song names like “Nuclear Bummer” or their made-up words like ‘unstoked’ (5) and ‘shredtopia’ (6)). They start off with a sweet narrative track (both lyrically and musically) which tips the scales at nearly ten minutes. “Power Spirit” is off the rails with some of the best screams of the year, and “Subterranean Cities” has some of the tightest gallops I’ve ever heard. This lays the foundation for another track that clocks in around ten minutes (“Time Is The Living”), which leaves you packed to the gills with pure energy. After one listen, you’re hooked, and it’s impossible to wait for that next chunky, noodly morsel. Dare I say it: this truly is aural beef stroganoff!

4 is a mellow instrumental.
FCC: 3 (2 & 6 say ‘shit’ but don’t reference feces)
Try 1, 2, 5, 6

01. Advanced Mind Control
02. Nuclear Bummer
03. Power Spirit
04. Hard Times Hangin’…
05. Subterranean Cities
06. Time Is The Living

Rating:  

~Matt Longo