“I am the lucky one who got away, in the gutter with my lemonade.” So sang Mary Cigarettes, fittingly described as “one of the great unsung heroes of Irish rock and pop”, on his track ‘Rocket Science’. Sadly, last week, the 59-year-old Northern Irish singer-songwriter, also known as Gregory Gray, passed away, after a short illness, at his Hertfordshire home.
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With the sun finally out and festival season shaping up nicely, 2000 Trees has continued to prove it won’t be beat when it comes to gathering together a stellar undercard for fans.
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For those unfamiliar with their background, “supergroup” The Damned Things trace their routes back to the dawn of the decade, when Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman approached Scott Ian – yes, that Scott Ian, the one from Anthrax – and suggested that these two musicians from apparently completely disparate backgrounds use their mutual love of Thin Lizzy to make some rock ‘h’ roll of their own. Recruiting FOB and Anthrax band mates Andy Hurley and Rob Caggiano respectively, alongside Every Time I Die duo of Keith Buckley and Josh Newton they released the surprisingly impressive ‘Ironiclast’ album in 2011, played a handful of festival shows and then went back to their day jobs… until now, as eight years down the road, and with Caggiano and Newton replaced by Alkaline Trio’s Dan Andriano, they have re-emerged into the sunlight with their second album…
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Godfathers of one of the most recognisable sub-schools of punk rock, Bad Religion’s contribution to melodic hardcore has seen them namechecked by nigh on every major punk band to emerge post-1988. Approaching their fourth decade and onto their 17th record, Bad Religion are still very much in business, proving that even while they might have spawned a legion of imitators and fans, they have never been left in the dust as the decades wear on. ‘Age of Unreason’ stands testament to this; a record which showcases all the hallmarks of what has made Bad Religion popular to this point, whilst ramping up their most melodic elements to produce something which is less seeped in anger or cynicism, but a kind of jaded optimism that draws on the traditional punk spirit of community whilst offering a sense of joyous release.
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As a third release, this isn’t a bad effort at all, though it marks a slight deviation in musical intention, with this album sounding a lot more orientated towards Indie than their early pop-punk fare. While last release, ‘John Doe’, was a concept album, they revert to their previous form in the topics they are tackling, those being more relatable subjects and things that your average person would likely be experiencing in day to day life.
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