AC4
“AC4”
Nyvag Records
By Rich Cocksedge
(SugarBuzz UK)
SugarBuzz Magazine
The first thing to point out is that even though this Swedish band contains two members of the much revered Refused who are currently the subject of many rumours about them reforming, there is little similarity in the musical output of the two groups. AC4 take you back to a time when short, sharp blasts of hardcore were being produced by bands such as Minor Threat and the like but also what is being released by bands like Government Warning here in the modern era.
What you get are four guys playing their hearts out, whilst wearing them firmly on their sleeves. This is a perfect cross of current Swedish punk/hardcore (of which I admit I have a limited knowledge) and
the classic early 80’s sound generated from within the USA. There is nothing pretty or particularly new to what the AC4 are doing but damn it, they create a sound that is far from being stale and overdone, something that is like taking a fifteen quick jabs from a middleweight boxer – it leaves you reeling and dazed but unlike any boxing match, you want more of the same.
The opening track of this self-titled release, “Detonate”, has the chorus “we’re all ready to detonate” which provides the fuse for an incendiary start to 21 minutes of hardcore with the lyrical content anyone with any background of the genre would find familiar but not stale.
The second song “Where Are The Kids” asks that question quite clearly, wanting to know if they will be providing us with something new (presumably musically) whilst showing willing to step aside or be knocked aside if they come up with something relevant and interesting.
Moving through the album, there is no let up to the ferocious battering provided by these four angry yet not so young men. In a world where the more public face of punk rock is provided by more sanitized and acceptable bands, to find a group who are still expressing their rage and frustrations is highly satisfying. This is no more succinctly put than in “Pigs Lose” in which the chorus states:
“I know I know
We gotta go
We’re old and bored
But in the end - Pigs Lose”
The final track “This Is It” brings to an end a no thrills ride where the message is that whilst for some punk rock and all it can be is just a passing phase in life, for Dennis Lyxzen it is a matter of “life and death”, a sentiment many people across the globe still subscribe to.
I’d be happy for The Refused to stay as they are, a memory, if AC4 can continue to remind the world that punk rock needs an element of fury, resentment and a call for change. Somehow, I don’t think they will rest on their laurels and whatever they do it will be attention grabbing and worthy of a wider audience.