i fear

Another great old band to come out of practically nowhere with some brand spanking new music is Boston legends Gang Green with this new single on Taang! Records, the "I Fear" 7". Black vinyl in a nice, simple, glossy sleeve.
'Wanna hear what Gang Green sounds like in 2011?' leads the current speal put together by Taang! to promote this record. My answer was undoubtedly 'yes', and to be honest I am surprised with the results. Well a little. Like a lot of these rehashings as of late, I did expect these guys to return to form with some actual hardcore reminiscent of the "Sold Out" days, so as to pander to the current crop of enthusiasts. In terms of the actual music here though, what they've coughed up isn't overly removed from a lot of their later material; heavy rock vibe with plenty of riffs and leads and loads of that typical, party guy Gang Green attitude. The lead track is introduced by a phone recording of what sounds like some coked up American woman abusing Chris Doherty over standing her up or something. It's amusing I guess. The song itself runs a totally slow paced tempo, largely revolving around a rolling tom drum beat, a simple riff, and a repeated crew vocal delivery of the songs namesake. Lyrics pertain to something along the lines of fearing a coming home late to the significant other. Certainly seems like an satirical take on the older dude's life. Flip the slab and it's a little more up beat, but again, it's ruled by a very rocky, 80's metal lead. Both songs get a pretty clean, modern styled recording, but it's by no means over polished like yesterday's post fodder. The end result is a really fun record and listening to these two songs make me realise just how similar that Detroit band RZL DZL is. Surely they've taken some kind of influence from Gang Green.
No real gripe here, other than the cheapish packaging that doesn't really seem that thought out. Generally as a rule, I don't approve of liner notes and the like printed on the back of the sleeve. That's what inserts are for. You don't get that here though, not even the lyrics are supplied. Bummer. For an old band making a come back though, this is very cool.