Seattle based Phantom Racer put out their debut release Strikes Again back in October of 2017. Strikes Again is a curious name for a debut release and I was keen to check it out due to the great album artwork. Phantom Racer are a four piece band consisting of Doug (guitar and vocals), Joe (guitar), Tony (bass and backing vocals) and Nick (drums and backing vocals). They formed in 2015 and are influenced by 90s skate punk legends such as Propagandhi, Lagwagon, NOFX, Bad Religion and No Use For A Name. Phantom Racer sound like my cup of tea.
Strikes Again starts out in an explosive fashion with Powder Keg. At just over a minute long it feels like Phantom Racer are giving you a taste of what they're about before starting properly. The track features fast guitars, powerful drums and soaring vocals with great harmonies and backing vocals. Most of all, the song is packed with a combustible energy that makes you think it could explode at any second. That incredible energy spills over into the next song, Control The Narrative. I love the pace that Doug delivers his vocals on the verse adding even more to the huge energy that Phantom Racer omit. The song is a political number that talks about the media trying to take away democracy. I enjoyed how the delivery of the line "they're trying to take our democracy" gets more and more intense every time that it's sung. The third song is named In The Event Of A Cave In. This track doesn't start in such an explosive fashion but more with more of a slow(ish) build. Whilst you're not immediately drawn into this song, it doesn't take long before you are throwing your body around with excitement for it. The song jumps nicely between a more restrained approach and a build where you just go crazy. What A Waste starts out with some fantastic duelling guitars being accompanied by a simple drumbeat. Continuing the theme of high energy skate punk, here Phantom Racer sing about remembering the past and not throwing what you've learnt away.
Worst Liar Alive starts out with such a great guitar shred, really showing what great musicians Phantom Racer are. The opening of the song leads you to believe that this will be a metal tinged track, ala Propagandhi, but as soon as the vocals kick in I immediately feel more inclined to think of this as a pop punk song. There is a great contrast between the music and the vocals that makes this song vital listening. The sixth song, Origin Story, is the most pop punk song on Strikes Back. It's about how you first got into punk music and how the obsession began. I'm sure we all have our own origin story like this. This makes the song incredibly relatable. I really enjoyed the moments when it's just Doug's vocals with some muted music accompanying him. You can't help but get lost in his words. The penultimate song is named Lost In The Comment Section. It's a thirty-two second angry attack on the ridiculous and horrible comments you find in comment sections on the Internet. Finally we have Negative Partisanship. Negative Partisanship is another track that could find itself in the more metal/shredding side of punk rock. There is a very punchy stop-start sound to the opening verse of the song that I had a little trouble really investing in. Then the chorus hits and I'm in. The repeated lines of "the reveloution, that's what we're ready for" come in and get me pumped up, shouting along and throwing my fists in the air. Phantom Racer finish Strikes Again with some flurry!
This is a really strong debut release from the four piece. Strikes Again is very well played and written. It takes the genre of skate punk and makes it sound fresh again some twenty years after it really hit its height of popularity. Well played, Phantom Racer.
Stream and download Strikes Again here: https://phantomracer.bandcamp.com/releases
Like Phantom Racer here: https://www.facebook.com/pracerband/
This review was written by Coln Clark.
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