I’ve often lamented on these pages that the window of reference for so many “bands of the moment” goes back at most, maybe two or three years. This is why it seems that for the most part, the melodicore stylings of the early-to-mid 90s is about as outdated as Dan Qualye jokes. In Europe however, melodicore never met such a demise and groups like MILLENCOLIN, FIVE DAYS OFF and I AGAINST I, among others, have kept the beat going strong. Another entry in that category is the long-running Swedish act, VENEREA who began as a mere covers band in 1991. Although this band has not been treated to the same kind of international attention as some of their peers (though they have three previous full-lengths released in their native land), they’ve finally landed on Bad Taste Records, an established company that might finally be able to break them across the pond. One Louder is a throwback to the days when TEN FOOT POLE, PULLEY, PENNYWISE, PROPAGANDHI, STRUNG OUT, LAGWAGON, and NOFX ruled the scene, and everyone was sporting board shorts and tees with the Fat Wreck Chords logo on the back. This album is fourteen songs of masterfully crafted, speedy, forbidden-beat punk fucking rock, and every morsel of it hits with the fury of a band playing their instruments until they’ve reduced them to piles of ash. VENEREA’s atypical name might indicate an approach to songwriting that’s less than serious, but One Louder is a healthy mix of mild political lyrics and personal reflection. Songs like “Guantanamo,” “Throwing Bricks,” and “Libertine,” (one of the album’s true standouts) would not lyrically be out of a place on an ANTI-FLAG album, while cuts like “Implosive,” “Small Town Romance,” and “Staying Underground,” fall right into line with the lyrical character of PULLEY’s Scott Radinsky. The recording quality to One Louder is also decidedly mid-90s style, with supercharged guitars taking precedence over everything else, while the galloping drums emulate the clackita-clackita sound that producer Ryan Greene drilled into a generation of budding skaters. The lead vocals could stand a little more polish, and on a couple of tracks, the backing harmonies are barely audible in the mix, but overall, One Louder lives up to its titled billing. VENEREA easily sets me back more than ten years with One Louder, where my punk rock knowledge started with BAD RELIGION and GREEN DAY and ended with RANCID and NOFX. Before I discovered breakdowns and blast beats, all I cared about was a good melodic hook, and a beats-per-minute reading that would make my heart tick a bit faster. If these were concerns of yours (and perhaps still are), then One Louder is definitely an album worth checking out.

Bad Taste

www.badtasterecords.se