Brighton three piece punk rockers Demon Smiles are a band
that I respect a lot. Not only are they an absolutely brilliant band but are
also completely wonderful people. They do so much to support the punk rock
community by helping their friends bands put out fantastic records and
constantly putting on brilliant shows. I think the band faced one of their
biggest challenges last year when they had to find a replacement for their
original guitarist. Once they had found a excellent replacement they immediately
began writing new songs and recorded a brand new release called Amped. Here is
my review.
Amped begins in explosive fashion with the song Penny For
The Wise. Straight away this song feels harder than any song they've played.
Steve's drumming is relentless throughout the song really keeps the tempo going
at a great pace and new guitarist Jazz plays some excellent NOFX inspired
chords but the true star of the show here is bassist and lead singer Cat. In
punk rock it's often accepted that the singer is never really a great singer
just the person in the band who happens to have the best voice. Cat is definitely
an exception to that rule, she's not only a fantastic singer for a departure of
the bands former guitarist and the emotional struggle it caused. Brilliant
start to the album. Up next is a track called Impropaghandi. This is a song
about feeling unhappy with the scene that you're in, finding others who believe
in what you do and starting your own scene. The music is fast and aggressive
but Cats voice gives the song some real melody. Another brilliant tune. The
third song Fuck You showcases Cats excellent bass playing skills, when you hear
it it's hard to believe that she's only been playing for a few years. Fuck You
is a fun anthem heading towards the poppier side of punk rock and I imagine is
a real crowd pleaser. Everyone loves shouting out "Fuck You!" Miss Me
is the name of the fourth track on Amped and also features on Demon Smiles
second EP Handcannon. This song whilst still going at a frantic speed (I think
Steve has one drumming speed - fast as possible!) feels somewhat more sombre
than the earlier songs. The song feels like a perfect closer for a live set so
it is surprising to find it placed in the middle of this release. The chorus of
"Miss Me When I'm Gone" is
likely to be stuck in your head for days.
Track number five, We Are The Weirdos starts out with a
enjoyable rumbling bass line before Jazz and Steve join in with some super fast
skate punk. This song is about the love of punk rock music and embracing being
seen as different. I love the lyrics "It
Keeps Me Sane, It Keeps Me Whole, I Take This Music Everywhere I Go."
Whenever life get's rubbish music always is a big part of making everything
seem better. Enemy starts off very quickly with Cat and Jazz trading off lines
during the opening with chorus. Cat's pretty girl vocals and Jazz's raspy
screams (reminiscent of the Mel Yell) are very contrasting and create an
extremely interesting sound. This song is a message to other bands about
working together as part of the punk rock community. The tempo change towards
the end of the song really adds to the song and will get a whole crowd singing
a-long with the band as they sing "I'm
Not The Enemy." The penultimate track The Future Is Definitely Over is
a reworking of another track from Handcannon. The guitars in this song sound
more towards the pop punk sound of Teenage Bottlerocket, a band Demon Smiles
are big fans of. It's great to hear a slightly different sound in Demon Smiles
music, showing some real versatility. On the original version of this song the
vocals are shared between Cat and the bands former guitarist but on this new
version Cat takes centre stage, giving the song a more polished and clean
feeling. Amped is completed by the song Keys. The intro is great on this song
as it builds into the main meat and gravy part of the song. Musically the song
has everything, fast skate punk, stripped back sections and even a ska section
that I've never heard the band play around with before.
Demon Smiles are one of the best kept secrets in the UKs
underground punk scene. Amped is by far the bands strongest release to date and
I was already a big fan of Handcannon and debut release Burn It To The Ground.
Jazz has taken Demon Smiles up to another very high level and I really can't
wait to see where this exceptionally talented trio with such a high work ethic
go next. Straight to the very top I suspect.
Buy Amped here: https://demonsmiles.bandcamp.com/
Like the band on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/demonsmilesband
Now listening to Homecoming (No Use For A Name cover) by The Bouncing Souls
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