Before I get into the meat of this review, I wish to declare an interest – Small Town Records is run by Pete, who writes for Punktastic, is my girlfriend’s brother and one of my best mates. It in no way hampers my opinion of this record as I’ve never been introduced to the band personally and have only seen them live the once. And anyway, if I didn’t review bands that I knew and/or liked, I wouldn’t have much to do. So, confessional over with, let’s hit the ground running – Penknifelovelife are fucking ace. There’s nothing in any way original about what they do; call it screamo, emo, post-hardcore, metalcore… it’s all been said and it’s all been done. But for a bunch of West Yorkshire kids (one of whom, the story goes, lives in a caravan, while another lives on the roughest estate in Bradford) there’s a confidence, swagger and arrogance that serves them very well. In short, these kids are going to blow up in 2005 – and if you don’t hop on board for the ride now, their Tsunami-like wave will simply knock you over as the months pass.
If you take the stage presence of a Senses Fail, the screaming of an Avenged Sevenfold and the brutal guitars and breakdowns of a From Autumn To Ashes, you’d have an idea of what PKLL are all about. Yes, they do wear black, have dyed floppy hair and trousers tighter than Britney Spears pre-wedding night (allegedly), but if you forget the cliches and scratch beyond the surface, PenKnife are a band with plenty to look forward to. Vocalist Ross Kenyon has a really strong vocal, the twin guitar assault blasts solo after solo and the lead guitars bounce and wrap themselves around each other to great effect. The only downsides on this record are that the production is tinny and on the cheap side, while the five songs sound a little too similar – the ideas would probably start to wear a little thin if any more tracks popped up.
Having said that, after the gut-wrenching screams that pierce ‘On The Contrary, Everything Is Going To Be Bad’, you’ll probably be hooked in. This is fashionable music, let’s get that straight, and there are probably just as many people who detest this type of music as there are those who love it. But when you do it this well, you have to admire it. This, after all, is a band renowned for its live show. There’s usually blood. There’s usually fighting. Something always gets broken. The first time Pete told me about this band he said the quintet got so ‘exciteable’ on stage one member got a guitar in his face and fractured an eye socket. At their last Leeds gig, two members stopped playing to have an actual fist fight on stage – no set-up involved here, the ‘loser’ of the fight threw down his instrument and stormed off stage.
By the time ‘Touch Me Again And I’ll Stab A Screwdriver Into Your Face’ comes around, you’re probably hooked. It’s this track which particularly stands out – Ross’ bowel-wrenching “you’ll never touch her like I do, you’ll never make her scream” oozes swagger. The sexual undertones, almost goading his competitor (“give it your best fucking shot” he yells at one point), shows a wise head for such a young songwriter. There’s something strangely compelling about Penknifelovelife. Maybe it’s their energy. Maybe it’s their knack of writing clever songs, even if it’s certainly not original. Whatever it is, you’ll be hearing a lot more of them this year, so check them out now before they come round and kick your face in…
www.myspace.com/penknifelovelife
Small Town Records
Paul