Lead Shot Hazard are a six-piece ska punk band from London who describe themselves as a cross between two of the most beloved ska punk bands of all time - Capdown and Streetlight Manifesto. With those kinds of influences I was interested to hear their new three-song EP War & Pieces, which was released in January.
The first song on War & Pieces is named Current State Of Play. It starts with some upstroke ska guitar and some fantastic horns, giving you get a feel for Lead Shot Hazard's sound straight away: horn-led ska punk that's up-tempo and will get you moving. Current State Of Play is a song that talks about the poor state of today's society. Topics such as homophobia, politics and class are among the subjects touched on during the track. Something I really enjoy about Current State Of Play is how there seems to be music coming from everywhere in the song. It gives the song a big boost of energy because it's hard to know what's coming next. The second song on the EP is Safe From Harm. Safe From Harm has a nice reggae feel to it whilst still being very brass heavy. There are a few melody shifts during the song that stop it from getting stagnant and there is a great musical interlude, in which the brass players especially can really show off their talent, which builds towards a big ending. Safe From Harm has a feel of 90's third wave, ska punk, clearly another big influence on the band. I love it too. The third and final song on War & Pieces is titled Grids & Markers. The track starts out with a deep bass line and some trademark ska guitar. Then the horns come in and it makes me think of a big group marching into battle. There is a nice variety in the song, being contained during the verses before bringing the tempo up for the choruses. Grids & Markers is about supporting the scene you're in no matter what people think of it. Ska is often seen as uncool but there are so many bands and fan still so passionate about it and this track could easily become an anthem for how we feel.
War & Pieces features three ska punk songs that are all quite different in style. This is fantastic because many people often dismiss ska and punk as all sounding the same and that's quite simply not the case. Lead Shot Hazard are one of a number of supremely talented bands coming up keeping the ska scene alive and well.
Stream and Download War & Pieces here: https://leadshothazard.bandcamp.com/
Like Lead Shot Hazard here: https://www.facebook.com/LeadShotHazard
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