Urban Waste – “Wastecrew”
Urban waste is a band we’ve been aware of almost since our inception but they go back a bit before that. They started in ’81 and though now I’m used to seeing bands who have a long past and are treated like the new messiah coming, Urban Waste has always taken a more modest approach as just another hardcore band out of New York City.
And though there is less fanfare when they play Boston, they always produce one of the best shows you can see. I’m always discouraged with these old bands wherever they’re from. Bands decades past the prime, legitimately collecting on their dime but seriously, not worth my time. But not so with these guys. (Dese- guys in New Yorkese).
Urban Waste by being a band from New York, is not surprisingly heavy hardcore with political/social lyrical input but their music cannot be pigeonholed so easily. Their music has parts that are equally influenced by traditional punk and skate punk and I think that’s what makes them so interesting and what makes them so good.
And like the defunct band, Live Fast Die Fast, they have always been one of my favorite New York hardcore bands.
Let’s give a listen and see if you agree.
“Nobody’s winning, everyone’s losing, society is crumbling in mass confusion, religious wars, Oh-what a waste, leaving dead bodies all over the place.” Starting at a snail’s pace “Who Won” is almost doom-y metal like until after a quadruple drum roll you can picture the pit explode in your mind. This song detonates with a venomous and righteousness declaration of what it sees and knows is right. “Don’t let no one get in your way, don’t be disillusioned and led astray.” This is a sharp rip into the cancerous decay of modern life and it tares it clean and precise with clanging bass, high pitched lead guitar, assaulting drums and exhorting vocals and wins it all by a mile.
After a majestic sounding beginning that blends into a four chord garage romp, “Your Hypocrisy” ignites with the drummer slamming home each beat. “You think your words can affect me, but I’m not blind I can see, you try to tell me what to do, your hypocrisy runs right through you.” Then the music switches into hardcore double time. The song moves between these two effective parts while throwing a scorching guitar solo in that ends the song as well. I have no fear of being called a hypocrite when I say this is one great song.
“Wastecrew” starts with a seventies funk/rock vibe like Shaft is gonna stroll down the street and waste a few. But this crew quickly flips it into overdrive and we’re in the hardcore heartland once more. “The government is flawed” the singer announces whilst a chorus of voices answer “Society is a mess,” repeating several times. Not so much fast but a pounding, intense beat captures a buzzing guitar that it holds and won’t let escape. The singer again, “The media lies” and the voices answer, “And TV corrupts.” The funk riff is left alone with the drummer whilst the singer and the multitude of voices exhort us with “Don’t give up, don’t give in, the world is fucked, but we can win.” I know I’ve reviewed this song before but it’s a great one. And I agree, the world is fucked but with songs this great it makes it all a whole lot better.
“Sick Of It” is a full throttle bombs away hardcore song where the words are spit out with hardly a space or breathe between them. “Sick to my stomach, down to the pit, this world is going to end pretty fast, how many of us will fucking last?” This is pure, old-school, hardcore rules punk rock. A sick, speed metal guitar solo erupts in the middle of the song like lightening striking your heart. “I’m sick of it, I’m sick of it all.” So am I but this song makes me feel so good I think everything will be all right!
Urban Waste, to me, is a band that represents the best of hardcore; however you judge their music. This is a band keeping the tradition alive but does so by not relying on past glories or selling young folks a nostalgic vision of some lost, past time. Instead offering them the true spirit and guts of where the music sprung from.
This is a band that produces great material, plays great shows and is totally supportive of other bands and the scene. Just like the best bands do now and just like the best bands did then and it’s not their fault if they qualify for both.
And sorry if there’s no joke here, no irony. But I write how a bands music makes me feel and this band makes me feel much respect.
And this album is a blast!
(Slimedog)
