{"id":25362,"date":"2014-01-09T11:01:32","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T11:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-backtrack-lost-in-life\/"},"modified":"2018-03-17T15:29:43","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T15:29:43","slug":"album-review-backtrack-lost-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-backtrack-lost-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Backtrack – Lost in Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hardcore punk is a simple game. There seems to be a tacit agreement amongst fans and artists alike that if you can prove your worth working hard on the road and that you can consistently channel a combination of high-intensity energy and riotious anger, you\u2019re more than welcome to bro-down to your heart\u2019s content. This often leaves a non negligible space for mediocrity to thrive and be celebrated. New York outfit Backtrack<\/strong> wander dangerously close to the cusp of being the another nth flavourless hardcore band on \u2018Lost In Life\u2019<\/em>, were it not for some reasonable variety (let\u2019s not kid ourselves, nobody\u2019s claiming to be revolutionizing hardcore) and some genuine fun times.<\/p>\n

In fact it\u2019s all fun and games with opener \u2018Their Rules\u2019<\/em>, a mid-tempo cycle of riffs and adolescent slogans. Nobody likes conformism, but if May \u201868 taught us anything, it\u2019s that revolution should be more thoughtful than a couple of catchy slogans\u00a0repeated endlessly until they, ironically, breed their own kind of conformity. That particular song is perhaps one of the better examples of how diluted and uninspiring hardcore can get. On the other hand, \u2018Wash Away\u2019<\/em> is an altogether more convincing beast, as the band transition from groove-heavy intro riffs to more conventional snare-genocide fare with conviction and righteous fury (and some weird-ass, punctual dual vocal work that works great).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The truth is a lot of what comes after represents minor variations on the same basic formula. Some of the tracks are resoundingly more muscular on\u00a0\u2018Lost In Life\u2019<\/em>, \u2018Under Your Spell\u2019<\/em> has hints of thrash, and there are a couple of rather meaty, and ruthlessly efficient, breakdowns to be enjoyed. That being said, the band\u2019s adherence to the strict conciseness of traditional hardcore makes it a rather swift, and yes often repetitive, journey. Yet it\u2019s an endearing particularity of hardcore that such familiarity is literally the lifeforce of hardcore fans, who will most likely find everything they need in this par-for-the-course effort. Were I to pick a highlight, I\u2019d go for \u2018Still Searching\u2019<\/em>, that seems to both have everything Backtrack<\/strong> build their music on and its anger turned up to eleven.<\/p>\n

2\/5<\/p>\n

‘Lost In Life’<\/em> by Backtrack<\/strong> is out on the 14th January on Bridge Nine Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Backtrack<\/strong> links: Facebook<\/a>|Tumblr<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by James Berclaz-Lewis (@swissbearclaw<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hardcore punk is a simple game. There seems to be a tacit agreement amongst fans and artists alike that if you can prove your worth working hard on the road and that you can consistently channel a combination of high-intensity energy and riotious anger, you\u2019re more than welcome to bro-down to your heart\u2019s content. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,8181],"tags":[5879,590,6772,11128],"class_list":["post-25362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-post","tag-album-reviews","tag-backtrack","tag-bridge-nine-records","tag-lost-in-life"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbum Review: Backtrack - Lost in Life - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hardcore punk is a simple game. 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