Friday, February 1, 2019

The 1984 Listening Post - New Model Army - Vengeance

New Model Army - Vengeance


#91
April 4th 1984
New Model Army
Vengeance
4 out of 5

Highlights:
Christian Militia
Vengeance

Here’s another release that’s only available to stream on YouTube. 
I’m sure this is going to be one of those moments when I express disbelief that I’ve never heard of these guys and someone in the Listening Post army will have a deep wealth of historical knowledge of them and I will feel stupid. So, Friday.
The raw, driving post-punkness and political calls to arms/working class ethics culminates on Side One’s pulsing A Liberal Education. And Side Two picks up from that denouement 
Their sense of pop is not as keen as The Alarm’s whereas their rebellious instincts are BUT The Alarm disintegrated and NMA has been putting out albums as recently as 2016.
The title track could be an anthem for today. Just proving that some things, like corruption and oppression in favor of the rich, never change. 
I just wish the guitar solos were less cacophonous and made more sense. The bass is doing its own thing, which is great, since the drums are plowing the road, but that should leave Sullivan room to make some statements with his guitar instead of sounding confused. But, I’m picking nits. This is a pretty excellent debut. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzY0k0g3c8

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