They say that out of adversity comes strength. This certainly seems to be the case for Milton Keynes skacore mob, Anti Vigilante. After a turbulent 18 months, the band has returned with new album ‘Tempest’, a record that’s every bit as poignant as it is impacting.
Playing out as both a scathing attack on the inadequacies of today’s political climate and an ode to Oli Smith – the band’s former drummer who lost a fight with abdominal cancer in March 2011 – the album sees Anti Vigilante more focused, more urgent and, ultimately, more relevant.
What’s instantly recognizable is that ‘Tempest’ is a much more complete offering than 2009’s debut, ‘Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes’. Not only does it sound crisper and cleaner (call it the Pete Miles effect, if you will) but it feels more rounded and has a personality about it. Whilst the obvious Capdown influence was there for all to hear in the band’s early days, this new album sounds like a band riding its own wave. Sure, there are components reminiscent of the band’s peers (Random Hand, Chief, and The Junk come to mind), but this sounds like, well, Anti Vigilante.
Carefully slotted into this Anti Vigilante sound is a heavy offence of pummelling drums, buzzsaw guitars and machine gun vocals, each of which sits securely alongside upstrokes and saxophone infusions. This is skacore but the emphasis falls more on the ‘core’ part, with the ‘ska’ not so much relegated as reserved. The combination of the two can be heard on the likes of lead single ‘Go Outside and Play’ and ‘Remember Jean Charles de Menezes’, both of which could probably be considered the band’s signature sound.
For something a little different, ‘Push On Through’ is a full-on joyride of big riffs and reckless intent, whilst ‘Song For a Friend’ is a short acoustic number. Both demonstrate that the band is happy tearing-up the blueprint and having a play around.
Lyrically this is an impressive outing. Far from the triviality often associated with the combination of ska and punk music, the content is intelligent – Edmund Burke, Charles Bukowski, David Icke, and Horace all get a look in – whilst the tracks focusing on Smith’s death paint an evocative picture of a band trying to come to terms with grief and uncertainty.
Undoubtedly, there’s a lot of merit to the album, but there’s also an underlying sense that this isn’t the finished product and there’s still more to come from Anti Vigilante. This might manifest itself in the form of an even more forceful approach. It may even involve taking inventiveness to a King Prawn-esque level. Or it might be something completely different, but it will be something. The journey will be an interesting one, that’s for sure.
For now though, ‘Tempest’ is a bruising slab of intelligent, ska-infused punk rock that’s laced with heartfelt emotion and the seeds of invention, all of which makes for a pertinent and impressive sounding album.
ALEX HAMBLETON