Sunday, February 09, 2020

Gulag Beach - Sarrazin Diät

Gulag Beach is back and bringing it hard! Hot on the heels of last year's excellent album Potato Mash Bash, new EP Sarrazin Diät is an absolute rager of impassioned melodic punk from this Berlin foursome. Again the sound is a perfect mix of '80s SoCal waves and '90s/2000s NorCal snot delivered with a distinctively German touch. At just four tracks, this EP is lean, mean, and all killer. This is exactly what you'd expect from Gulag Beach: up-tempo, tuneful, and rousing punk rock with something meaningful to say. "Song About Love" was somewhat of a surprise to me: a song about what happens when the excitement of new love fades and two people have to figure out how to grow what they have into something deeper and more permanent. Gulag Beach can do love songs and do them well! Elsewhere the band has a very political and socially conscious message, and it's delivered with tremendous conviction. The last time I reviewed Gulag Beach, I commended the band for endeavoring to write the kinds of punk rock anthems that the world still needs. And they've written some more for this record - songs that will get us tapping our toes or dancing in the pit but also inspire us to resist fascism and the abuse of human rights at every turn. I know it's a different sound. But in a lot of ways, these guys inhabit the spirit of The Clash (my favorite band). Sarrazin Diät builds off the momentum of Potato Mash Bash, but this release is even stronger. Crank up the volume and join the resistance. Vinyl available from Wanda Records!



-L.R.

https://gulagbeach.bandcamp.com/album/sarrazin-di-t 
https://www.facebook.com/gulagbeach/ 
https://mailorder.wandarecords.de/ 
https://www.facebook.com/wandarecords/ 

No comments: