Penalty Kill – “Overboard”
Hockey is like the disgraced sport of America. It’s fine in Canada where they eat Eskimo pies and have polar bears for pets but here it’s relatively unpopular and surely, not well respected.
Kind of like punk rock.
Penalty Kill is a hockey term, it’s what happens after a teammate does something naughty and has to sit in the corner with a dunce cap on his head. As everyone knows, punching is allowed in hockey, just like banging into each other is allowed in punk dance. So you have to do something extremely naughty to go to the penalty box- take the Lord’s name in vain, do something politically incorrect or something the hipsters deem uncool.
Well, send Penalty Kill to the box right away because they don’t follow the rules of “nice music” and refuse to be pigeonholed in one genre, straddlin’ punk and metal or put more succinctly by themselves- thrash and hardcore.
This they play extremely well combining the metal thrash of the instruments with the hardcore vocal attack. And Penalty Kill is one of our favorite type of bands we cover. Bands that we have seen just starting out and make great strides in the few years we’ve been on-line. OC45, BarRoom Heroes and Taxi Driver all fall into this category as well as Penalty Kill and to see these bands get better and better and succeed musically really makes us proud.
So before we get back on the ice let’s spin some tunes.
“Overboard” starts with some calm waves rolling onto the shoreline, but soon a fast metal riff appears like a shark fin off shore. The drums add a few hits before the vocals approach around a wave crashing drum roll with, “Ahhhhhhh- look out!” which had me looking for a life preserver. But if you choose not to abandon ship you’re in for a song that generates a great, Motorhead like vibe. The song’s all about getting lost at sea, you see? “And now we’re shipwrecked and lost/ Something that had not crossed our fuckin’ minds.” This song rows along until the second part of the song then sinks into a slower, metal groove. I don’t think I’m going overboard in saying this is a great thrash/metal tune.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/03 Overboard.mp3|titles=Overboard]“Last Chance” is an uptempo song with a melodic vocal line that recalls early Black Flag to me with some metal touches on the guitar. “Everything I say and everything I do/ You’ve got something to say…This ain’t gonna last so take my advice/ Back off while you can.” Geez, we’re just doing music reviews! This song moves along nicely with an upbeat rock beat until the end when it switches to a slowed down part with terrific drum accents and metal chuggin’ guitar. Don’t miss your chance to experience this great song.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/04 Last Chance.mp3|titles=Last Chance]“(You Are Not) Better Than Me,” starts out with loud, ringing chords, a solo bass, screeching guitar and pounding drums until all agree to join forces and plunge headlong into the song. The verse has a shout-a-long hardcore chorus of the title. “You think you’re better than me/ This much I know/ Kids like you are such a fuckin’ joke.” This song has different tempo changes, an actual excellent, guitar solo and combines, perfectly – metal, thrash instruments with hardcore vocals and lyrics on top.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/02 (You Are Not) Better Than Me.mp3|titles=(You Are Not) Better Than Me]Penalty Kill’s lead singer is from Roslindale. He is who all the young swans swoon about but I wouldn’t know about that. You see Tom Brady of the Patriots with his super-model wife and then you see Vince Wilfork of the Patriots wife, and I recently said, “She looks like she could be from Roslindale.”
A guy I was with is from Roslindale and took offense. “Hey, what’s wrong with Roslindale?” Nothing, I said, I could’ve easily have said Hyde Park, where I’m from or any working class town of Boston, any town of Boston, because we’re all the same.
Penalty Kill is not Hollywood, it is Roslindale. Not because that’s where the singer’s from but that’s because that’s where their heart is, the feeling is from working class Boston.
I, personally, think it’s better than being from Aspen, Colorado or Palm Springs, Florida not because I’ve been to either place (I haven’t) but I’ve been around- meaning in life not necessarily geographically. And what is real is real and all that glitters is not gold and Hollywood is all hype and you don’t have to put up much of an argument to claim all those places are pretty lame.
You can have your opinion on Penalty Kill but if you think they’re hype you’re wrong. This is the real thing- the real type of music that young musicians are pouring their hearts out because of their love for hardcore, punk and metal. All musics that if you’re sincere in your intentions you’ll be respected for, by pouring out your guts and hearts into your songs.
Me, I’m pouring out another whiskey. I’m following it with a beer. That’s no rare feat for this man, no fantastic trick for you.
But Penalty Kill is no trick, unless you want to give them a hat trick for these three great songs from this great EP.
This is as real as a whiskey shot to the brain or a knife stuck into your ribs or a real, true idea put into your brain.
Enjoy.
(Slimedog)
