El Accidente EP
Not Since The Accident & El Chapo

It’s been a while since we heard from those South Wales scallywags
NOT SINCE THE ACCIDENT.  Indeed their personnel has changed since last they waxed lyrical with new member Leo James installed on bass duties.  However, fear not, their raucous punk style has not diminished one iota and they now return to the fray with a split EP alongside Bristol hardcore/sludge band El Chapo.

Opener ‘Keep Moving’ reminds me of early Rancid with Rhys Wilton’s vocals being hollered out over the frenetic back beat of drummer Lewis Green.  The lyrics retell the fight to just accept yourself as you are and have fun and hammers along at a fair old pace clocking in at just over a minute and a quarter.

‘Fallen Idols’ is more melodic, but ultra catchy with a terrace style sing-along chorus and the bass of new boy Leo James comes to the fore with fret work that Matt Freeman would be proud of.  Recounting the public humiliation of stars of yesterday taken down by claims of former misdemeanours, if the band consider putting out a single (do they have such things nowadays?) this would be my choice.

‘Witch Hunt’ starts with the machine gun guitar of Steve Hubbard laying down a framework for a hardcore classic about the modern obsession of tearing down people who gain a modicum of success.  Rhys Wilton’s larynx gets la good work out trying to be heard above the cacophony of noise being generated by the rest of the band and I can see this causing dancing mayhem when they play it live.

 

Final track ‘Burials’ doesn’t waver from the template of the previous songs rattling along at a Blitzkrieg frenzy.  However the subject matter of over paid academics reconstructing the lives of long gone societies from small shards of pottery is unusual for a punk band to say the least.  The song is a fitting climax for the bands return and I doubt the crowd will be thinking about ancient Mesopotamian artefacts when they hurl themselves at the stage when it’s played live.

So there you have it, NOT SINCE THE ACCIDENT return in triumphant style with four slices of hardcore punk rock to satisfy even the most discerning critic.  So catch them live with their upcoming gigs and use some of that money you were saving up for your gas bill to buy these tracks from your streaming provider and their bandcamp site. (https://hollowlife.bandcamp.com/)

Now I have to own up to not knowing anything about the sludge genre of music, so listened with an open mind to EL CHAPO’s three tracks on the EP.  I rather like that despite the fact that the band describe themselves as a punk/hardcore/skatepunk/thrash/stoner and sludge band they are still ‘Available for parties and wakes’.

First track ‘Resist’ starts with what sounds like a Mariachi band, but soon head-crunching feedback intervenes and a song that would grace a Slipknot concert rises from the ashes.  Thumping drums and bass gradually speed up and dual screaming vocals carry the song like a run away train imploring you to ‘Resist the Police State’.

‘Sludge Cake’ certainly lives up to its name with head banging riffs over throat grating vocals and fulfils the genres mantra of an abrasive mix of doom metal and hardcore punk.  It’s three and a half minutes of cranium-crushing majesty.

Finally ‘Tarot Cards Spell Death’ bring the EP to a premature end carrying on in the same vain and a track with almost Black Sabbath overtones.  The tempo is fast and furious and doesn’t relent until the final chords die away and metaphorically put you out of your misery.  Great stuff lads.

So there you have it, a split EP ‘El Accidente’ featuring two of the best bands from the Bristol/Cardiff music scene.  Different in so many ways but ultimately both here to remind you that, despite the turgid state of the music charts, good music does exist if you dive deep enough.

Bones 

www.facebook.com/notsincetheaccident
www.facebook.com/ELCHAPOHCP/
https://hollowlife.bandcamp.com/