Blasted

Of all the genres of alternative music I listen to, the one that I am most fastidious about is punk. Punk is an incredibly broad area of rock music and as much as it having been instrumental in the creation of many of my favourite genres Punk itself is incredibly difficult to do well or at least by my standards. The main reasons I struggle so much with relating to punk music as a whole is mostly down to the mind-bogglingly and predictable anti-establishment social commentary. I suppose in its own way it serves a purpose but do we really need a song about the Bush administration or the countless wars that are raging all over the world to realise that these things are unjust? What does a song by the Sex Pistols actually do to challenge a morally bankrupt government? Diddly squat. If it's not the ludicrously egocentric attitude that it can change the world that leaves me feeling callous it is normally the watered down aggression.
    Whilst old school punk bands were known for their harsh and raw sound many of today's biggest and most successful "punk" bands are pop-punk acts, a genre that in itself is a confusing mix of two things that really should be mutually exclusive. These pop-punk acts started to creep onto the music scene simultaneously with the nu-metal bands of the late nineties and early noughties and basically stripped back all the angst and rage of punk and turned it into something clean, clinical with little relation to punk at all, oh and they threw in a few funny jokes about cocks for good measure.
   This being the case it is extremely rare that I come across something punk that I actually enjoy. One such exception is Blasted. I first became aware of Blasted when I saw them live supporting the Bronx in November. Since then I've been to see them several times. Blasted don't bother with either of the two elements of punk that tire me out and simply go about their business playing visceral hardcore punk at a fierce pace. Their music is loud fast and downright filthy with most of their songs just scraping the 2 minute mark. The band are exceptionally tight live and really have to be seen to be believed.
   To date the band have released a limited run cassette tape of demos and their debut 7" ep "Time to die/Exposed" which is still available from dry heave records in two beautiful colours which I'm very proud to own. The bands full recorded discography so far is also available to stream through bandcamp. Whilst the band is still in its infancy they are definitely ones to watch.



Stream Blasted here: http://blastedband.bandcamp.com/

Vinyl: http://dryheaverecords.limitedrun.com/products/506594-blasted-exposed-time-to-die-7-splatter-vinyl?page=1