Akimbo
Harshing Your Mellow
7.3
Now, even though I've never heard Akimbo before, I felt pretty confident that I would enjoy this record when I signed up for it. That's not only because I knew the band was a part of the weird and wonderful Alternative Tentacles roster, but also because they were handpicked for the lineup by the label's founder and, in my mind, creative genius, Jello Biafra. Not surprisingly, the band delivers just what I hoped they would, an energetic surge of unmitigated punk rock.
Rock is the operative term here, as even though the songs display a palpable punk/hardcore sensibility, the compositions and more importantly the energy here is more evocative of The MC5 than the Dead Kennedys. The band forgoes the rigidity and moral presumptuousness of hardcore and instead embraces a more morally ambiguous, decadent, and frankly more violent sound. Their sweaty bar-rock self indulgence is backed up a truly blistering delivery and a keen melodic sensibility that gives the band an artistic edge over bands that simply mock punk rock swagger. “Lick the Knife,” “Sense of Smell,” and “Life in the Noose,” all flaunt the band's ability to luridly sneak unsettling melodies beneath a rollicking punk rock exterior.
Where Akimbo lose me are on more single minded tracks like “Paul Ruebens' Theater,” and “Steal Your First Born,” that while still bristling with feverish intensity, come off as lower level compositions to their more melodic counterparts.
Like Fucked Up's Hidden World from 2006, Akimbo's Harshing Your Mellow is album of furious and unadulterated rock that should appeal to a broad spectrum of extreme music enthusiasts. While lacking some of the technicality and embellishments sought by most metal fans, the pure energy and rock sensibility of of Harshing Your Mellow should be a bridge for those after a visceral and immersing musical experience.
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