Hailing from Leicester, Tri Subversion are a three-piece, old-school punk band. With socially conscious lyrics and a neat line in malicious humour, You Are The Carbon is a fourteen-track, warts ‘n’ all punk record that draws on all the familiar influences from Sex Pistols and The Clash to The Ramones, even throwing a little bit of The Levellers (at their most acerbic), and Billy Bragg. The result is a solid album that hides a surprising number of catchy gems amidst its rough-hewn riffs.
With the entire album recorded in one take, including the vocals, You Are The Carbon stands cheerfully apart from the over-polished, mass-produced muzak masquerading as punk elsewhere and delivers the goods right from opening number Freedom is War. With Clive Hale (guitars / vocals) and Julian Palmer (bass) spitting out a list of all the things currently driving people into the ground, few targets escape their ire. Yet, for all the rage the band bring to bear, it’s a catchy track and you’ll find yourself singing the “rolling over you” refrain, without fully realising where the hell it comes from. Blink and you’ll miss the sub-three-minute Twist and Shine, a decent track with an insane hook soon eclipsed by the bruising Eat Data, which evokes the clattering cacophony of old Sex Pistol’s bootlegs. A hazy snippet of studio chatter belies the frantic energy of the snarling Ransom for Many, an album highlight nailed by Clive Standish’s rock-solid beat. A faster track with a post-punk vocal, We Are Kin sounds quite different, the reverb washed vocal sat somewhere between old school punk and a Shaun Ryder sneer. The first half (and this really is an album that wants to be on scratchy vinyl) ends with the harder, nastier Ignorant bliss, only for the guitar to disappear under a wave of horrible, digital noise, neatly reflecting the lyrical barb at the track’s heart.
Opening the second half, the brilliantly slinky Number 13 edges into Dead Kennedys territory with its surprising surf vibe, only for Darkest Hour to return to business as usual, with gang chants and churning riffs combining for a track that sounds like Black Grape covering The Buzzcocks. Another album highlight arrives next in the form of the mid-tempo Celebrity Monster. Led by Clive’s drums and once again edging into the darkness of post punk, it’s a memorably stinging rebuke of contemporary celebrity culture, and it offers some of the album’s best guitar work to boot. Clearly on a roll, the band launch into the spacey title track, only for the hypnotic intro of Nothing Is Forever to slow the pace considerably. With the vocals once again shrouded in reverb, it’s a briefly poignant moment that obscures the monster riff lurking just beneath the surface. With the super-short Decaying Orbit passing in a blur, the album races towards its end with the bruising Industrial Military Complexities – a lyrically strong song, albeit arguably the first time the the album feels like its sonically repeating itself. Fortunately, closing number Blind Squid is nasty, buzzsaw punk, part Pistols, part PIL, and it ends the album on a high.
Punk is a genre that has always lent itself best to the DIY aesthetic and You Are The Carbon makes the point with considerable force. However, what is often forgotten is that the best punk bands were also surprisingly handy with a catchy hook, for all their phlegm and fury, and this is where Tri Subversion excel. With intelligent lyrics, an evil sense of humour, and a gift for penning songs that lodge themselves into your subconscious, You Are The Carbon is a fantastic record and, with the band drawing from a wide range of influences from across the punk spectrum, there’s enough variety to keep you hooked throughout. For those looking to try a little subversion, Tri Subversion are well worth checking out. 8/10
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