HAEST - ANOMIE
Released through TNSrecords and featuring members of Matilda’s Scoundrels, Barracks, Dead Anyways and Wizard Fight, I am expecting this debut LP from Hastings foursome HAEST to be punk. When the intro to opener Unstable Picnic kicks in like The Mission’s Wasteland - which, for me at least, is a good thing - I think I may have got it wrong...
Talk about misleading. Once that intro is out of the way, this is mostly punk from the anarchy-crust-UKHC end of the spectrum, albeit darker, more melodic and catchier than that. For the most part, the vocals are barked, the guitars slash and snarl and the rhythm section rattles away in fine style: imagine a less disturbed Rudimentary Peni or a heavier, more musical take on Feeding-era Crass - with better production than either - and you wouldn’t be far off. Hell, the guitar at the start of The Only Good Wham... could be straight off Napalm Death’s debut. There is more to it than that. I Haven’t Had Crumpets... hints at the decent end of Eurogoth. I Want To Get A Chicken... strays into Idles/Fontaines DC territory. I Thought I’d... is an invigorating chantalong ending to a good album from a promising band.
7/10
