To Be Hated
Outsourced
(Destroyio Records!)
Last month we took a look at To Be Hated's State of Things album and I found myself entertaining questions of fleeting youth, upcoming middle age, time machines and what new school vs. old school punk rock means to me. All that is behind me now because To Be Hated has proven itself a prolific monster to be reckoned with. These guys have somewhere close to 3,000 albums out or six and a 7", I don't know, we've lost track here and they play live with some degree of regularity in the tri-county area.
Outsourced is an effort from 2009 and it is along the vein of the punk rock jostle you've come to expect from these guys but with a slightly more hardcore take than on State of Things which is okay by me. This fits nicely in any rotation that includes the Angry Samoans, China White and Gang Green.
The cast is Brick and Jose on guitars, Tommy on drums and Johnny on bass and vocals and they hit the ground running with the opener "Addicted." They keep the pseudo-politics and anger with "Less Talk, More Action!," "High Stress" and "When the Smoke Clears." These are fun, slam-dancing numbers to play loud, the neighbors be damned. The title track tries to be soft and nice before it goes into an angry tirade about outsourcing.
The back half of the album keeps the energy up with tracks like "Shot Down" and "Under the Influence." It's nice to see these guys fully expound on the tradition of DIY with their militant attitude towards recording and gigging, proving that it's all really about getting off your ass and getting it done. I'll be acquiring the rest of their catalogue and sharing it within these pages soon. One thing I did notice, the dual male/female vocals were not really used here and that's a shame because it is one of their strengths.
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