What we have here is a repress of the skate/punk/metal pioneer’s debut album. Even though the subject matter is quite serious in places, this still is a fun record to listen to! Fast is the order of the day here, as each song wants to finish before it starts.
Punk craziness and attitude is interspersed with some metal riffage, and all this appears in the album opener, Suicides An Alternative/You’ll Be Sorry. Even the tracks that start slow, like Subliminal, soon get to breakneck speed for greatest efficiency. You’ve just gotta laugh because the speed is just pure crazy and naïve, but they are having a good time. Last track on Side 1, Institutionalized, is their best known song from this period, and the drummer, Amery Smith, is struggling to keep the pace.
Flip over to Side 2 and it’s more attitude and speed with Memories Of Tomorrow. With its Slayer-ish riff, but probably twice as fast as anything the dark ones were doing at the time. Basically that’s it for the rest of the album, and if I’m honest it wears a bit thin towards the end. Mike Muir is the only original member left, though they haven’t been active for a lot of the time. I must be in the minority as I preferred the offshoot, Infectious Grooves. If you’re a 16 year old skate kid then this is for you.
6.5/10 from The Grooveman.
