Gallows
Orchestra of Wolves
Epitaph
The death knell has begun to chime for mall-core and emo. Gallows have stormed the shores of the U.S. to ensure that the chiming ignites into a full-fledged, ball-bashing, keyboard-wrecking, makeup-smearing, girl-jean-tearing, mind-shredding meltdown!
The band that all last year got their egos inflated by British press has been called “the best British punk band since The Clash” (Kerrang!), and proclaimed as having “the finest displays of sneering, snotty attitude since The Sex Pistols” (Total Guitar) may have been getting all sorts of smoke blown up their young sinewy asses, but here’s the crazy part: their debut Orchestra of Wolves is damn good!
Hardcore has not seen a band with the ability to balance such extreme rage with skillful songcraft since Black Flag, a band covered by Gallows on their closing track, “Nervous Breakdown.” The well of anger that Gallows have plunged into is not only compulsively on edge musically, but frontman Frank Carter’s lyrics are also not for the faint of heart.
For those terrified of dentists:
Take these teeth Just for a second I need some fucking relief/ They’re keeping me awake and I can’t sleep/ Can you drain the blood I’ve swallowed/ so much I think I want to throw up – from “I Promise This Won’t Hurt.”
…or dark alleys and neighboring gangs:
We’re not the same/ If we were the same one’s/ I’d draw this knife across my throat and bleed it dry – from “Come Friendly Bombs.”
…and the scariest subject of them all, date rape:
If I offer to buy you a drink/ Trust me when I say it’s non-alcoholic/ I want you to wake up and remember my name/ When you’re washing my cum off your fucking face… My name is Casanova/ I’m basically a man/ I have the head of a wolf/ The appetite of an entire land – from “Orchestra of Wolves.”
That last little ditty ends with an eerie screaming of “The hardest thing you’ll ever learn/ Is just to love and be loved in return,” which film buffs will recognize as a quote from Moulin Rouge.
Gallows are one bold bunch of bratty Brits, and I can’t wait to see these songs played live! The last dirty punk band that got me this excited were The Riverboat Gamblers and not only do I still listen to those guys on a daily basis, but they put on one of the best shows on the planet. Gallows are main stagers at this year’s Warped Tour and poised to blow minds judging from the video clips I was able to dig up.
Epitaph Records: http://www.epitaph.com
