Album Review: One For The Road by The 4130's

The 4130s are a skate punk band from Ipswich. Since forming this four piece have released two full length albums, both of which have been very well received in the punk rock community and the bands have also played many festivals including Rebellion, Strummercamp and Fuk Reddin. I decided it was about time I saw what all the fuss was about so decided to review newest album One For The Road.

One For The Road begins with a song named Curtains Up. The track starts out with some background noisey pub sounds before a machine gun goes off and the song bursts into life. The music hits hard and front man Ben's vocals are full of aggression and is often joined by his band mates. I love a group vocal section This track really plants the seed for what to expect from the rest of the album. The drumming intro really grabs your attention for the second song - Outsider. This is your typical punk anthem you're likely to find on every single punk album ever. I don't mind this at all though, I will never get bored of hearing lyrics like "It's Alright And It's Okay, There's Millions Just Like You, We're Not Different At All, We're Just Misunderstood." Thank God It's Not 1977 is a song about respecting the history of punk rock but living in the here and now. I love the attitude displayed in this song, ironically it's the same attitude born in 1977. Bens vocals start the fourth song Regaining Pride. This song is about fighting and trying to get back what you've lost as you get older. I like this message, it's not something I've often thought about but I guess as you get older it's easy to give up on the things you would have once fought for.

Song number five is named Treading Water. Ben does his best snotty Fat Mike impression on this track that starts off at 100mph before switching into some sweet ska sounds. It didn't really add a a great deal to the song but at the same time I really enjoyed hearing the band some versatility in their musicianship. The Fight Or Flight Response brings us to the halfway point of One For The Road. Listening to these tracks I begin to get somewhat nostalgic about the sound of the album. It reminds me of the Golf Records times of the early Noughties when 4ft  Fingers would always be on my CD player. CD players - that seems like a long time ago now. But I digress - The Fight Or Flight Response is about not holding back in life and learning that when you can do that anything can be possible, great positive song writing. But It's Home is one of my favourite songs on the album. This is an anthem like skate punk tune, the verses are played fast but the chorus is huge and to borrow a phrase from Ben "catchy as the flu." 1 Second 2 Break is another aggressive feeling song. The trade off between the two guitars at the beginning of the song gives the impression of something big happening.

Title track One For The Road is another song that could easily have been on a 4ft Fingers album - so naturally I love it. The song is still played at a decent pace but it feels slightly more restrained than the previous songs. That is until the end of the track when the band breaks free of the shackles and just explodes into sound. I imagine that this song is a set closer at a 4130s gig. What Do We Need is a song that takes full of advantage of the bands ability to do a great gang vocal. This is a great sing a-long song, one that will get a crowd really going shouting "What Do We Need" along with the band. The penultimate song is called The Escape. The beginning of this song has an emo feel to it, definitely the most tender moment of the album. For a little while at least as once the full band get involved it's a full frontal punk rock assault. One For The Road finishes with The Villains Of The Peace. This track has more of a pop punk feel to it than anything else on the album and I wonder if the band have any plans to go play more songs with this kind of sound in the future. This song is a song that  really makes me want to dance and put a big smile on my face.

One For The Road is a very strong album from a local band that are showing a lot of potential. Like I said the sound reminds me of the skate punk sounds of my younger years but doesn't feel the least bit dated. Absolutely fantastic stuff by The 4130s.

Listen and buy One For The Road here: https://uk4130s.bandcamp.com/ 

Like The 4130's here: https://www.facebook.com/The4130s