this is, i believe, the first release from the hugely underrated and massively obscure pittsburgh band pressgang.......for those that dont know, pressgang were a politically oriented melodic hardcore band who were active in the mid-late 90s........they managed to record a decent amount of material as evidenced by this "7, an lp (which i reviewed a couple years back ) a split 7 w/1985, and their final "7, titled "self destroyed" (which i also reviewed here)........soundwise, they started out sounding like a mix between verbal assault and john henry west, as the band progressed, the sound got more chaotic and noisy, almost crusty at times, but those weird melodic riffs, that for me, were the bands trademark, never went away.........anyways this is snapshot of a band just starting out, the drumming on this record is crappy and is a drag on the whole sound, but the songs themselves are great, musically (drums aside) and lyrically on point......fortunatly the drumming got much better on later releases and might actually be a strong point of this band by the time they recorded the last "7...........the female vocals, which featured sporadically throughout the rest of this band's catalog, are absent here....maybe she didnt join the band till after this was recorded? who knows.........in any case, this is a great record/band that a great many people are ignorant of, luckily, im here to make sure you get a taste..
pressgang - admit nothing, blame everyone, be bitter.
hey there,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mike I was the bassist on the last 7" and some comp tracks. The drummer on this record was different then the drummer on all other recordings. In addition you are correct Amie was not in the band at this time. Glad you liked the band, it was a great time!