Strike Of Neos – ‘Old School Rhythms – Fresh Demos’

Strike Of Neos – Los Angles, Califronia, USA.

Something of a tribute to the veterans of Punk and Hardcore Punk from an up-and-coming band from LA. We do enjoy finding bands in their infant stages at Musically Fresh. Support this shit. I’m not saying they’re shit, quite the opposite in-fact. Support this shit. Do it.

Strike Of Neos, a three-piece hailing from Los Angles, California, play a reminiscent and almost tribute-like style to much of the early Punk-Rock and later Hardcore-Punk of the late 70’s and onward into the 80’s. Some of you may have read me say this before, but here we go again…

Punk is still going strong in this day and age. It has magically changed and yet stayed the same and continued to provide the same escape it always has. I love new bands, I love old bands. Bands such as Strike Of Neos put forward a sound punks of all ages will appreciate, they channel the old-school into something new. New styles and elements are welcome in droves! But at the same time, going down the old school route is NEVER a negative.

Their influences and personal favourites tell the story well enough:

‘Bad Religion, Germs, The Adolescents, Black Flag, Fear, TSOL, Social Distortion, Dead Kennedys, AFI, Descendents, The Clash, Red Cross, The Adicts’

Personally, scrolling through their material on SoundCloud, I heard a bit of Danzig-era Misfits poking it’s head round the door. Just saying. Anyway, on to that later. It’s music time.

At present, the band have their demo available via their SoundCloud profile. Five tracks of stripped down, raw Punk-Rock music that sounds as if it should have been filling dingey and dark venues 30+ years ago. Luckily, and more importantly, they’re doing it now.

‘Radio Is Dead’ comes soaring in on the back of a brief guitar intro that sounds like the product of The Clash‘s lead sent in on a US Punk rhythm, reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys. I’m happy with that. Are you? You should be.

Rough and ready, track one of the demo does it’s job. It has the perfect level of aggression, simplicity and Punk groove that captures the genre’s roots well. Not a bad start to the Demo.

‘Politics’ follows the same pattern. Shorter, but just as up tempo as the previous, it gets the point across well enough. Politics was, is and always will be a pain in the arse, so have rant, ask a question and exercise your right to do so. The only real negatives with this song come in the form of the obvious, the recording quality. Now, this can be excused well enough due to Demo status, so its nout too much to worry about. Personally I’m inclined to think that the track could stand to be a tad longer but that’s just me.

Track three has a real and refreshing Ramones and Misfits feel to is opening riff, in fact after my first listen to to this track, sadly, it was high time I was leaving for work. Now what did I put on as I ventured out? Walk Among Us of course! However, I wouldn’t be doing a very good job if I wasn’t critical in some way.

Vocally, ‘Pride’ has a welcome interplay between the harder edged lead vocals and an addition of backing a secondary vocals that lean towards a cleaner style. That said, only real issue with the song is that although welcome, the secondary vocals need a bit of work and warrant re-recording. The components are there so to speak, just need tightening as the rest of the song is solid. Fast, low, gritty and with all the noise ready to get heads moving.

The final two tracks of the Demo are back to heavier side of the band’s sound. ‘Damaged’ for example drives us forward rife with disaffection and anger. An anthem for those in need to vent at a Punk Rock show, or anywhere music can be blasted into the ears to soothe the soul. Punk Rock is often the port of call for this (for lack of a better word) shit state of affairs.

I can see this going down well live.

‘What was alright, is now damaged – defecting, rejected, neglected! What was alright, is now damaged – I said Damaged Damaged Damaged!’

Finally, ‘Status: Delinquent’. A title that sounds like something any Punk, Punk band or passing listener of the genre is perceived to be. I must admit I got more of what I was expecting with this track, with longer time set between verses. Instrumentals seem to be something I’m into a the moment. Track five still carries the band’s trademark buzzsaw gritty rhythms, but this time with medium tempo sections, both accompanied and unaccompanied, with vocals included in the mix. Plus, some bouncy riffage mixed in.

While we are on that subject, Strike Of Neos has the classic rhythm and bass guitars of Punk and old school Hardcore down to a T, despite their fledgling recordings. The lead guitar parts are welcome as a set aside from the strong rhythm sections of the band’s sound, as well as the cheeky and indeed brief jagged riffage of ‘Status: Delinquent’. I can’t help but feel Strike Of Neos should include this more into their compositions, as it adds more depth.

After repeated listens to the demo, I must say I’m anxious to hear the next set of recordings and the possible release of an EP or album sometime soon. Strike Of Neos may be a small scale operation right now, but they are in the process of exploring their sound and honing their craft. I recently caught up with the band’s bassist, Rodolfo Elicea who informed me Strike Of Neos have more tracks penned and plans for a set of gigs around LA soon so keep an eye and ear open.

Keep track of the band via their Facebook page, and listen to the demo via their SoundCould profile.

Lastly here’s a video of  band practice:

#StayFresh