By Alex Jones (Alex_Jonze)
It’s almost 40 years since the Sex Pistols played their legendary first show at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall back in 1976. As the old saying goes, life begins at 40, but I’m not entirely sure that phrase was coined with music genres in mind.
In any case, punk has undergone a transformation in that time, with sub genres taking the foundations of its sound and spawning a cavalcade of bands far removed from the likes of John Lydon and Co.
Despite the diversity in sound, the message has always stayed the same, one of anarchy and revolution, which brings us nicely to the new record by The Decline, ‘Resister’. With energy reminiscent of the punk icons of the past, this Australian four piece have come out all guns blazing on this, their third full-length effort to date.
With their flag planted firmly in the skate punk camp their melodic stylings and pop hooks are likely to please anyone who owns a couple of Anti-Flag or Propagandhi albums. 100mph drums and power chords come as standard in almost every track, providing a healthy injection of skate and destroy adrenaline. Surprisingly, the best moment of the album comes when the band slow things down on “You Call This a Holiday”, a heartfelt ballad reminiscing on lost love which (unsurprisingly) explodes into fireworks for the final minute.
Whilst it’s a lot of fun, Resister doesn’t exactly break down any boundaries. It treads down a track well worn by both their peers and idols. If you’re looking for complex time signatures or genre bending antics, you’re probably looking in the wrong place. But punk isn’t a complicated business, and these Aussies know what they like. It’s loud, in your face and over in a flash, and despite sounding great when they slow things down, they’d rather keep it straight up. After all, if it’s good enough for The Pistols it’s good enough for them.