I always find the skate punk band Lagwagon a bit
interesting. Someone who would consider themselves a fan of punk but isn’t
fully immersed in the scene probably hasn’t heard of them but the diehard punk
rockers worship them. Here’s a fun fact for you. Did you know that Lagwagon’s
debut album Duh was the third ever release by legendary independent records
label Fat Wreck Chords and the first by a band that wasn’t NOFX. Since Duh was
released in 1992 the band has released seven full length albums on the label,
the last being 2005’s resolve. This month after a nine year wait Lagwagon
FINALLY released a brand new album titled Hang. I checked it out.
Hang starts out in an interesting fashion with the acoustic
track Burden Of Proof. Lead singer Joey Cape softly serenades the listener in
this short song before the album bursts into life with the second track Reign.
This is classic Lagwagon, played at 100mph but still carrying a fantastically
bouncy melody. If you were to ever play someone a Lagwagon song to showcase the
band at their best Reign is a great song to choose. Track three on the album,
Made Of Broken Parts see’s more of a midtempo sound with a slight touch of
metal added to the sound. It’s the sort of song that will ignite massive circle
pits when played live. As is the following song The Cog In The Machine. The
sound is dark here and the lyrical pacing is superb, allowing for some massive
sing alongs. I love the lyric “He Thought He Had To Save The World, He Only Had
To Stop Destroying It.”
Poison The Well is a song that whilst it’s the trademark
Lagwagon sound that we all know and love feels slightly darker that previous
efforts. The darker sound should not really be surprising though given the 2012
of passing of Joey Capes best friend and touring partner Tony Sly. Obsolete
Absolute is one of the most surprising songs on Hang. At six minutes and eleven
seconds long it’s pretty lengthy for a punk rock song. The long intro for the
songs gives it a great sense of drama and anticipation before the Capers
distinct vocals kick in. Drummer Dave Raun really puts in a great performance
on this song with his rapid fire beat. Joey Cape’s ability as a vocalist is
really show cased in the hard rock sounding Western Settlement. It stands out
brilliantly over the crunching guitars Chris Flippin and Chris Rest. This instrumentation
in this song is very akin to something the Foo Fighters might put out put the
bouncy melody that Lagwagon are known for still remains. Burning Out In Style
really stood out to me on my first listen of Hang. Cape immediately grabs your
attention singing over a simple repetitive guitar chord and sings about giving
up on your dreams and settling down with what is considered the “norm.” A
fantastic track in the brilliant Lagwagon style.
One More Song is an emotional tribute to Tony Sly. With a
piano intro and Cape’s voice brilliantly haunting during the intro before bursting
into life as he sings about wishing he had more time with his best friend. A
very fitting tribute to a legend in the punk rock scene. Drag see’s Lagwagon
return to a darker punkier sound as they sing a song about the struggles of
quitting an addiction. Capes lyrics are really insightful here “I Quit When I
Was Thirty, I Quit When My Baby Girl Was Born, I Quit, I Can’t Afford Any
Bills, New Year Farewells, The Drag On The Next One, Is Something I Can Look
Forward, Something To Slow The Synapse, Something To Do With My Hands.” You
know me slows the pace down again and get’s more serious. Serious kudos have to
go to the guitars of Flippin and Rest again here as they play some fantastic
harmonising riffs. Punk rock musicians often get thought of as only being able
to play simple chord structures but these gentleman easily prove any doubters
wrong on this track. The final song on hang is called In Your Wake. This song
will have long time Lagwagon fans reminiscing about when skate punk blew up in
the 90’s. In You Wake takes the listening on a bit of a roller coaster with the
dynamic of the song constantly switching between tempo’s and slowly building
towards a huge finale that will be “inside your head” for a long, long time.
Hang is definitely a grower of an album, maybe the first
time you won’t really get it but after a few more spins you will fall in love
with it. Every time I have listened to it I’ve found something else about it
that I think is amazing. Something that struck me about Hang is that despite it
being nine years since Lagwagon released an album there is still something very
current about the release. It fits perfectly in Lagwagons excellent discography
and the sound doesn’t fill dated in the slightest. I really do hope that I don’t
have to wait another nine years for the follow up to Hang. If it is then we should
saviour this fantastic release.
Now listening to Fuck Authority by Pennywise
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