The Boils – From The Bleachers / 2005 TKO / 25 Tracks / http://www.tkorecords.com / Reviewed 23 December 2005

“Into the Enemy” has a tremendous amount of catchiness imbued on the track by the all-in chorus and chunky, Matt Freeman bass lines on the track. The track does the most benefit in introducing listeners to The Boils, and ties together the disparate pieces of the act into something more cohesive. The sheer amount of sub-minute tracks on “From The Bleachers” show The Boils as a band that can say all they need to say in the shortest amount of time and still not come up with clipped or otherwise suffering tracks. Without much in the way of interductory material in their tracks, The Boils never let the momentum that they come up with in the earlier sections of this disc fade.

The Boils do not cut the same song twenty-five times on this album, but there are some major derivations in the style that keeps the forty-plus minute album fresh. The most major of these derivations comes in “The Arson Song”, a track that sails on a bed of surf and ska music without losing the intensity present on the other tracks on this album. The style of punk that The Boils play is not necessarily street-punk as it is punk in general; the diverse sound on “From The Bleachers” almost moves the band into crust territory when songs like “Anarchy in Action” comes into play. The guitar work done on the album is simple but does not resort to the same arrangements time and time again; the shortest path between two points is employed without lulling listeners to sleep.

When the band goes into pop-infused territory, as is the case with “All I Ever Need”, The Boils keep heads bopping without diminishing the fury that marked their output through the rest of the disc. There are a few tracks on “From The Bleachers” that bridge the gap between punk and metal; the thrash-laden “Declaration of War” looks just as much to Slayer as it does the Circle Jerks. The different styles attempted (all successfully) by The Boils make “From The Bleachers” into an album that acts like a compilation. The band has such a big bag of tricks that in a live setting the energy must be frantic. “Skinhead Reggae Beach Stomp” is the penultimate track on the disc and seems to be the perfect wind-down track; “Philly Shreds” (the true ending) just feels as if the band is teasing listeners with one last hurrah.

Top Tracks: The Arson Song, Anarchy In Action

Rating: 6.4/10

[JMcQ]