The Phosphorus Bombs – ‘Blank States’ EP.

The Phosphorus Bombs – Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

For our previous work on the band – Click Here.

Sydney Punks The Phosphorus Bombs are sonically comprised of two things, visceral up-tempo Hardcore Punk and equally as fast melodic Skate Punk. The band mix these two colours into varying shades but are always found painting in explosive strokes.

Above you can find our review of the opener to the new Blank Slates EP, ‘A Bruise’, alongside a Bad Religion B-side not to miss. ‘A Bruise’ set the stage for a release as aggressive musically as it is verbally in it’s socio-politcal assault.

The eponymous ‘Blank Slates’ and it’s 1:38 blast of old-school Hardcore is nothing but explosive rage incarnate and that’s about all you can say about that bar it’s stellar tenacious pace and musicianship. – ‘This hate that strips your face, to create blank slates, the hate that bares your face, to create blank slates.’

After the brief glimpse of melodic guitars echoing Skate Punk, ‘Drugpig’ proceeds to blast stripped down, classic Hardcore Punk rhythms and verses reminiscent of a time before Hardcore bands just became “heavy for heavies sake” and did so badly. It is here the best comparison to describe the change in ‘Drugpig’ in it’s latter part would be Poison Idea‘s rhythms and pace paired with Black Flag‘s lead guitar-work suddenly becoming Bad Religion and then reverting back.

‘Your Irreverence’ is another classic track on a classic release by a classic band. You have to give it to The Phosphorus Bombs, they aren’t doing anything new, they clearly don’t want to at this stage and they really don’t care. What they do care about however is their craft of visceral Punk-Rock music, well-crafted and well produced without losing the bite their chosen hybrid genre has had since it’s inception. TPBs are a band that also, to be blunt, “give a shit” about social progress and defending those who are wronged.

‘Your Irreverence’ is perhaps the most aggressive and urgent of a tightly knit bunch unequivocally so and it leads on to the closing catharsis of ‘Overdue’. It is here I will back-peddle somewhat and redact my previous statement on the stellar wording of ‘Your Irreverence’ for ‘Overdue’ really does steal the show.

The band’s notable leaning towards Hardcore more so on this release is out in force as you’d expect by now (if not then where have you been?) and their penchant for melodic rhythms is still poking it’s likely not-as-pretty-as-you-think little head round the corner quite subtly but that is but a given.  It is in the lyrical content that ‘Overdue’ really does steal the show, so by all means, dig in because it’s an issue not only specific to the band’s home but also very much prevalent in the Post-Imperial world.

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Matthew Speer

Matt has 2.1 BA in History and is most likely somewhere in his twenties. He enjoys a wide range of music, but has a strong penchant for Punk-Rock. Originally he hails from the Isle Of Wight off the South Coast of England, UK and spends most of his time around England's South-West.

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