I guess sometimes things just click. When I first heard about Union Town and the individuals that made up the band, it seemed like an odd mix of people, but an interesting one at least. Bassist Miriam was in Malkovich for a long time, a band I never really quite understood, but still she provided them with some style and grace so that's cool. Drummer Dorus was in No Turning Back around the time they put out "Rise From The Ashes", yet it never really seemed like that band was his "thing". Then there was Johan Vogels, their guitarist who (to Vince and me) will forever and always be the dude that appeared to know every word to every One Life Crew song off "Crime Ridden Society" in a discussion whether or not that band was acceptable or not. That was back in '98 though so I guess I'm drifting off here. When the band found the perfect singer in Hein (who for a really short time played bass in Justice and put out a bunch of awesome demos on his tape label The Decline) and recorded their demo, things definitely must've clicked. When I heard it, I was floored, almost instantly. Obviously I wasn't the only one and despite the fact that Union Town hadn't really played much outside the Holland/Belgium area, the demo did real well and got pressed onto vinyl by Powered Records.
Where the demo mainly was an up tempo deal, with well written songs that carried a huge mid to late 80's DC vibe (Rites Of Spring, Embrace, Dag Nasty), this self titled debut album is a much more varied record. The bands that influenced Union Town when they wrote their demo are still an influence now, but as it goes when bands find their own sound, the influence is less obvious. Yet, their sound is still firmly rooted in the same soil, if that makes any sense? The variety in their songs, the maturity in their songwriting (you can really tell that you are dealing with experienced songwriters here) and most of all, the soul and spirit in their songs make it so that Union Town sounds like Union Town. There's room for experiment, slower parts and a few new things and ofcourse that can only be applauded. Some examples would be the guitar work in "The Observer" (the 5th song on the album) that has a weird Wipers vibe to it or even something as simple as the additional vocals by Miriam on the album's opening track "Regenerated". I'm a huge fan of those. That only goes to show Union Town has grown as a band.
One of the demo songs got re-recorded ("Resentment") and I guess one could always criticise that, but I don't think it's a song that's out of place on this album. The other 8 songs are all brand new and pretty much all of them rock. Rhythmically, I feel like they all have a good flow to them, with little details, breaks, drum fills and stop-start parts to keep things interesting. There are two things I'm particularly impressed by: the first is how warm and soulful this record sounds. As dumb as it may sound, you can hear the love and care that went into these songs. The second thing is Hein's vocals and lyrics. He sounds more confident than ever, with hardly any trace of an accent (well, if you ask me.. I am a Euro though) and I've gotta say that he has a voice that really carries the songs, both by the way he sings and obviously also by what he's singing. Which brings me to the lyrics... I would advise you to read them yourself actually. I found them to be real well written, spiritful and recognisable as well. Maybe it's because I'm only a few years older than Hein, but I could relate to a lot of the words I read. "Building a future from despair of the past, 'cause all is gone when you thought it would last". Especially that part. Such a great line.
Some of my favorite tracks here are, as mentioned before, the opening track "Regenerated" and "The Observer". The latter is an angrier, rougher song with a lot of drive. The song just before it, "Halfway There", is another winner, it starts off kinda like a Billy Idol song (this could very well be my imagination though) and then quickly takes a turn onto Fugazi territory. The melancholic guitars and vocals work real well together here. Other favourites are "Don't Give Up" and "Punch And Bleed". "Don't Give Up" was the first MP3 that was released off this record so I'm guessing it's one of the band's favourites too. "Punch And Bleed" is a perfect closer, as it builds up and then climaxes to its "But punch us, we will bleed" mantra.
I guess a lot of you have probably not seen or heard much about this band, but it would be a shame to miss out on an album this good, or to miss out on Union Town live, which in my case has always been a great experience. Anyone with a love for hardcore that is somewhat more melodic and soulful, that digs the bands mentioned before and/or can hang with bands like Husker Du, The Replacements and Hot Water Music should look into this. Another great record courtesy of my boys at Powered HQ.
www.myspace.com/uniontownband
www.poweredrecords.com
www.myspace.com/poweredrecords
2 comments:
I hadn't heard of them until I read this, but this band is great. I'm psyched to get this record.
I was a bit disappointed first because I expected more songs like the demo, I thought the new songs were too polished but I have to say the record has started to grown on me.
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