London’s hardcore punks Lay It On The Line are a band with an impressive amount of releases under their belt given their short time as a band; undoubtedly something that can be attributed to the DIY aesthetic that goes hand in hand with har edcore, and the energy and work ethic it brings with it; ‘Vigilance’, the forth release from the band, is a perfectxample of how hardcore should be: intense, brutal, militant and emphatic.
Beginning with the obligatory sample that seems to be a convention in hardcore these days ‘Condemned (Parts I and II)’ kicks proceedings off with a rolling drum beat and lead riff. It’s evocative of ‘Unknown Soldier’ by The Casualties, and features vocals that drip with the same paint-stripping venom as the aforementioned’s Jorge Herrera. It’s a blistering introduction to the record and one which serves to set the bar for what’s to follow impressively high.
Rather than a band who have a penchant for seven-minute epics full of solos and breakdowns, Lay It On The Line prefer the short and sharp approach, with the longest track clocking in at a little under four minutes. It is, however, something which works in their favour. ‘…And That Photo Made Me Feel Ill’ is easily the shortest track, yet also comes off as the strongest, the most direct and probably most accessible too.
One gripe I do have with the record (and in actual fact it’s probably more with the genre itself) is it’s over reliance on the use of samples or sound bytes. It can work really well to evoke a certain mood or feeling within a track, yet these days it seems to come over as trite and tired rather than emotive and three out of four tracks feature them quite heavily. That aside, however, and Lay It On The Line have essentially distilled the sound of contemporary hardcore whilst managing to stay just on the right side of hardcore so as to still be considered as punk.
DAVE BEECH