Strike Anywhere always struck me as a band that were a poor man’s this or that when I was younger, and I never really went mad for them live or on record. Listening to ‘Iron Front’, I feel like I may have judged them a little harshly. For want of a better label to slap on it, Iron Front is a fairly solid melodic hardcore record and. despite Strike Anywhere falling out of the fast-withering punk originality tree and missing the choice remaining branches, it’s full of whoahs and shoutalongs from front to back.
Although it’s a lazy comparison- some of the songs, and the overall production remind me of Dillinger Four‘s ‘C I V I L W A R’ which, rather unimportantly, is a probably a better record overall, but ‘Iron Front’ keeps pace much better and shouts at you much louder, but both of them are strong record in different ways. ‘I’m Your Opposite Number’, ‘Spectacular’ and ‘Omega Footprint’ stand out as tracks I’d really like to see Strike Anywhere play live, and overall, ‘Iron Front’ is is probably Strike Anywhere‘s most memorable to date, even if you get a vague feeling of having it heard it all before. Well worth a listen if you think you could like them given the chance.
Tom Aylott