The Destroyed – Outta Control

The Destroyed – Outta Control / 2003 Self-Released / 20 Tracks / http://www.bertswitzer.com / http://www.thedestroyed.com / Reviewed 22 November 2003 By far the oldest punks that I’ve ever heard, the average age of each member in The Destroyed is 48. Doesn’t mean that they can’t play some hard-rocking music, though. The Destroyed play a splashy type of punk rock that has not been really seen since the late seventies, not giving a shit about poor recording or trying to have always on-key harmonics. Influenced by Neil Young and the Sex Pistols, The Destroyed even incorporate newer influences like Black Flag and Dead Kennedys to their repertoire. “1-2-3” is the crux of tracks on the disc, mixing in a catchiness that would rival any Boomtown Rats song. The recording on this disc provides some weird echo to the songs, but the entire band puts together a killer disc. While everything sounds so fucking good, I have one major thing to complain about. In the pure vein of the Sex Pistols and their ilk, the drums seem awfully vanilla in this context. It seems like the drummer, Bert, has just lost any technical innovation in the time between eir’s first go at The Destroyed in 1977 and the current day. This is not to say that the drums don’t work with the tracks in any way, but the simple fact that the drums are singularly linear – Bert goes one way with the drums, and that’s about it. However, all this goes out the window during “Armed and Dangerous”, which is an orgasm of guitar and drums in which a melody cannot be taken from the ensuing chaos. People always get on punk bands for this experimental, but what can be more punk than just breaking down the rules of what music is supposed to be and what it supposed to sound like? I’m not really sure about this extended breakdown [in “Armed and Dangerous”] being about 10 minutes long, but The Destroyed rapidly get back into the scheme of things with “Punk Outlaw”, which begins the bonus part of the disc – a number of live versions of their songs from the original days of The Destroyed. What I am personally surprised at is the amazing recording that a number of these tracks enjoy, providing me with an insight into the earlier incarnation of the band that really shows me that The Destroyed haven’t slowed down much in their “old age”. Check out “Ill Treatment”, which is as much of a punk anthem as “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes” or even “Orgasm Addict”. This disc is testament that bands can take an extended period off from each other and still put out a disc that is eternal.

Rating : 8.6/10

Top Tracks : “1-2-3”, “Ill Treatment”.