Terrorizer [9] - Ian Glasper

From the moment that opener, ‘Working Man Hero’, erupts with a prime-time ‘Can I Say?’-era Dag Nasty riff carrying it along like a white water torrent, it’s quite obvious that 59 times the pain have came of age. For a start, they’ve produced a record that sounds beautifully well rounded, but more importantly, they’ve found their musical niche, where they no longer have to thrash like madmen to be noticed. ‘End Of The Millennium’ is as relaxed as I’ve ever heard the band, brimming as it does with big, warm singalongs, and joyously humaholic tunes. Of course, the influence of Punk’s resurgence is omnipresent, with songs like ‘Me Against The World’ or ‘Turn At 25th’ revealing a definite leaning towards the anthemic style of, say, The Business or the Dropkick Murphys, but 59 aren’t content to just be imitators, and ‘Need No Alibi’ is as good an example of the Street Rock genre as you’re likely to find anywhere, whilst ‘Daily Mind Distortion’ rocks with all the insightful melody of the best that yer Fats and Epitaphs have on offer. Thankfully the band can still kick it out hard and fast as well and me Old School Crossover of ’Priority #1’, ’Clear Enough?’ and ‘Broken Unity’ is all the more powerful and commanding sitting alongside its softer, friendlier half-brothers. And the album closers out in grand fashion with ‘Punk Rock College’, a fitting climax marrying Down By Law to the dramatic chords of(‘Frankenchrist’ period) D.K.s. Cynics may doubt the sincerity of the band, may even accuse them of bandwagon-hopping (don’t you just love those armchair critics?!), but ‘End Of The Millennium’ makes perfect sense when taken in the context of 59’s previous inter-album musical progressions, and it is everything you’d expect to hear – and more – from a confident band at the peak of their creative ability having some fun with the music they love.

1. Working Man Hero
2. Me Against The World
3. Turn At 25th
4. Priority #1
5. Need No Alibi
6. Weakend Revolution
7. Found Home
8. Broken Unity
9. Got It All In Sight
10. Make It Go Away
11. Daily Mind Distortion
12. Clear Enough
13. Punkrock College (On With The Show)