Album review: Goldblade - Mutiny

Punk’s not dead, y’know. OK, so most of what gets labelled as punk these days is a far cry from the spit’n’speed vitriol of the original wave of 1977, but there’s still a few bands hoisting the flag of fury and making a noise at the castle gates. Bands like Mancunian post-oi! pirates Goldblade, for example, for whom Mutiny is their fifth album released in a decade.

Much as Goldblade are a refreshing change from the glossy corporate pop that marches under the banner of punk, Mutiny isn’t going to blow you away with killer riffs and deep philosophical insights. We’re talking simple four-chord riffs and rockabilly stabs on pub-rock guitars over bang-crash percussion, shout-along choruses reminiscent of football terrace chants… the sort of thing designed to make the kids united, you know.

There’s really very little to say about the musicianship, because it’s not very notable. Not to demean Goldblade, as they’re perfectly competent, but the form is undemanding - if you can keep time and play a barre chord, you’re sorted, basically. The tuneless gruff vocals make Tommy Victor from Prong sound like a virtuoso, but they get the Mutiny message across in an appropriate style.

That message is the vaguely politicised call-to-arms vibe of the old school - it’s black-and-white political stuff, and frequently laudatory of anti-authoritarian violence without questioning whether that’s actually part of the problem, but by comparison to the meek conformity of the scene at the moment, Goldblade are certainly a change - although you could consider it a step backwards. Your mileage may vary.

“Beyond God And Elvis” is a bit more challenging with its religious theme, but it’s still pretty light-hearted - Goldblade aren’t going to let anything too heavy get in the way of a good skank. “Everybody’s on Drugs”, despite the almost lumpen simplicity of its lyrics, is still ambiguous enough for it to be unclear whether or not the band approve of the situation they’re talking about. “Do The Neo Con” doesn’t take too much savvy to suss, however, nor “America Destroys All Its Heroes”… both songs are reductionist in their approach, but at least they’re singing about the elephant in the room.

In all honesty, the longevity of the pub-rock punk sound is pretty impressive; despite his subsequent claims to the contrary (which are probably as hypocritical as everything else he seems to say these days) I doubt even John Lydon would have expected it to still have the power to move a crowd of kids the way it can, and to hear it being used as it was originally intended - a raised voice against the megaphones of the man - is almost a relief. Goldblade are aware of its limitations, though, and they have no wish to do anything more - their music speaks their mind, and Mutiny will doubtless strike a chord with disaffected kids everywhere it gets played. With any luck, they’ll use it as a starting point rather than an end unto itself.

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