AVAIL “One Wrench”
Just to remind y’all about how good AVAIL is, I remember a writer from MRR a few years back saying that AVAIL should be the first band inducted to the punk rock hall of fame, and MRR doesn’t like anyone!! It is possible to not like AVAIL?? In fact, I don’t think I ever even met anyone who has heard them and thinks that they are “merely alright,” or just “okay.” THAT’S BECAUSE THEY RULE. “One Wrench,” is their first outing on Fat and unless you saw the label logo on the back of the release, you couldn’t tell of any difference from one of their Lookout releases. Musically, this soars, placing itself harder than “Over the James,” but not quite a vitriolic as “4AM Friday.” One thing that I did notice on this disc was that the production was a little less polished than prior releases, and I wonder if AVAIL purposely went out of their way to avoid sounding like a “FAT” band with that slight lack of power in the recording. Songs like “Taken,” and “Invisible,” are unmistakeable in their AVAIL characteristics – and could easily be placed on any of their studio albums. Lyrics once draw on the Richmond influence, and relationships abound. One cool thing is that Beau Beau’s backup singing and screaming is more prevalent than ever before, which i’m sure will be neat live. AVAIL is AVAIL, easily one of the most consistent and well respected hardcore bands of all time, and they deserve every bit of it. You’d be a fool not to pick this up.
Fat Wreck
