REFUSE RESIST – “Socialized”
If there was a ‘blind listen test’ for this album, “Massachusetts punk/hardcore band” would have likely favored well in the guessing game. REFUSE RESIST holler with loud gravel-mouthed lead vocals over peppy, straight-forward songwriting. The formula could not be more stripped-down, and it works very well for the band. With variety spread to all elements of the rhythm section, Socialized’s 26 minutes of music buzzes with a give-and-go feeling, and just about every song has a memorable vocal hook to it. The triple-punch of the title track, “Comeback,” and “Living In the Past,” mark the release’s hardest section of music, sounding a bit like THE CASUALTIES, but with SLAPSHOT’s Choke on vocals. The part-personal, part societal/political lyrics support the influence comparisons as well (especially on rabble-rousing opener “Middle America,” and the I-hate-taxes rant on “IRS”). We’ve heard plenty of combinations of this gritty sound before – THE BRUISERS immediately come to mind, as do the perpetually underrated A GLOBAL THREAT. Pushing Socialized past ‘medium’ is the skillful bass playing of Mark Powers (borrowed for the recording from THE WELCH BOYS), and Shawn Refuse’s steady frontman presence. Bands of this ilk seem like an endangered species, at least past the local band circuit, but REFUSE RESIST are on the right path for bringing it back into common consciousness.
