Album Review: Blowfuse “Couch”
I believe that record reviews are the collective response of the author’s objective opinion and taste on music in general, combined, however, with some undisputed facts. Blowfuse is a punk rock band from Spain that started playing in 2008 and have released two full length records before releasing their latest seven song EP Couch on November the 4th of this year through American Surf Skate Records in the US and Morning Wood, Infected, La Agonia De Vivir and Pifia Records in various other countries of Europe.
TRACKLIST
Behind the Wall
Radioland
Fantasy Society
Not Enough
Reach for the Sky
Smiling Proudly
Storyteller
Blowfuse had hit my radar a few times in the year 2013 because of their sophomore release “Into the Spiral” and the various promotion of that record, that was featured graciously over the internet. At the time I did notice that they stood out between tons of mediocre punk rock bands that you could call underground or even of a smaller scale but nothing seriously astonishing came to my attention, so I let them pass me by until just recently when their latest EP “Couch” was available for review.
A pretty accurate description of what Blowfuse are about is that the band uses exactly the same font for their logo as Pennywise has done in the past, mixes their last two releases with Darian Rundall, who’s also done work for Pennywise, TSOL and Suicidal Tendencies, is technical enough to stand by bands like RKL and the Vandals and approaches everything it does with a strictly 90’s punk rock aesthetic. The music, the lyrics, the videos, the attitude are like something that came straight out of 1994.
While I was not impressed with previous work, there is something about “Couch” that I’m really enjoying for all the aforementioned reasons including one more simple, but very important, fact. The songwriting is better than anything done in the past. Sure, there are only seven songs on this record but every single one of them is memorable, distinct and catchy as hell.
It is again evident that the band can play almost anything challenging they put their minds to, but this time around songs are more carefully structured and most importantly the various singing arrangements are much better thought out, verses and choruses are distinct from one another, bridge parts are intelligent and the singing is finally not all over the place and “organized” to some extent while still maintaining that “craziness” Blowfuse are characterized by.
If I had to pick favorite songs of this super surprising little disc they would be Behind the Wall, Storyteller and Reach for the Sky, different in their similarity, all excellent indications of what Blowfuse are up to.
I literally have no “bad” things to say about this record. From a production point of view there is nothing wrong with “Couch”; the record sounds perfect in every aspect of it.
It has been a while since I’ve heard anything in the genre of punk rock that sounds like Blowfuses “Couch” and the feeling is a very good one. There are still people out there that have learned from the best and know how to get the job done, so when it’s good it just stands out. Very nice work.
About the Author
Erik Ghint Athens, Greece PWV role : Reviewer Erik was born and has always lived in Athens, Greece. Terrible place but good weather. Studied law and played music on the side, now is a part time lawyer and part time punk rocker. Split personalities are his thing. Still listens to punk rock after 20 years, loves discovering new bands and is nostalgic about punk rock of the nineties. Diss him about his reviews @ https://www.facebook.com/bandage.punkrock.3
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