Don’t judge the band by the name. BLACK RADIO may disappoint listeners expecting to hear something like FUNKY FOUR +1 or OLLIE NIGHTINGALE’s “I’ll Drink Your Bathwater Baby”. It’s not that kind of black radio. This BLACK RADIO is a three-piece union of trashy UK scalawags churning out a ferocious, accessible blend of dirty punk and speed metal a la ZEKE and REO SPEEDEALER.

While it seems like there are a gazillion bands playing this style (for example, the entire Gearhead catalog), these guys have just enough extra grit to distance themselves from the pack. Fans of old-school hardcore punk may find BLACK RADIO particularly hard to resist. Jay Lloyd’s searing basslines in “Run You Down” and “For Kicks” evoke images of classic American bands like MINOR THREAT and COC. These four tracks rush by like a whirlwind visit from the Tasmanian Devil. In the end, the EP leaves the listener longing for some slow-tempo moments to mosh things up a bit. Ideally, a full-length from these guys will provide more lights and darks, as this speed-on-speed approach makes it difficult to tell the songs apart. At any rate, this EP is a strong offering of tight alcohol-fueled speedpunk that fans of the genre need to explore.

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/blackradio

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