1. The House of Sin
2. Priestmead
3. The Kenmore Ordeal
4. Junkyard Dogs and Alley Cats
With some bands you need a clean, crisp, poppy production quality to make the music work; most of the bands on labels like Fat Wreck, Victory and Fueled By Ramen are prime examples. While The Apostates' music initially struck me as the kind of music that would benefit from a well-produced quality to their music, I soon came to quite enjoy their rawness and primitivity because the frequencies that are lacking from the guitars are punched through with the distorted vocals, fattening out the sound a treat. The bass guitar also stands out and makes the lights on my CD player dance the same happy dance as when it is adorned with Rancid.
What we've got here is moody punk and dirty ska licks and riffs, iced with very British style vocals forcing out a phenomenal number of words to get your head round, as a result the choruses don't always stick in your head but are nonetheless very enjoyable. And this is perhaps the main feature of The Apostates that will carry them through to success, as they are original and characteristic and make this CD definitely worth checking out.
www.myspace.com/theapostatesuk
Nik's rating for this CD is:
