Western Addiction – Cognicide

Western Addiction – Cognicide / 2005 Fat Wreck / 12 Tracks / http://www.westernaddiction.com / http://www.fatwreck.com / Reviewed 29 November 2005

There is a smoothness here that really meshes in an interesting way with the tough, almost Black Like hardcore stylings of Western Addiction. A mixture of Rise Against and Black Flag seems to be the accurate asesment; ultimately radio-friendly but with a harder edge all its own. Tracks have a typically hardcore length (hovering at about a minute and a half) and this shortness means that the tracks are all incredibly fast. What seems to be the most interesting thing about Western Addiction is their vocal breakdowns, which become especially prevalent during a track like “A Poor Recipe for Civic Cohesion”. The all-in, multiple-vocals of these breakdowns will immediately endear Western Addiction to their audiences, as well as affording “Cognicide” a different style than what has previously been put forth. Jason’s screamed-out vocals are perhaps the most audible thing on “Cognicide”; they stand alone above the guitar/drum dynamic and really point the entirety of the disc in its ultimate direction.

The entire disc spins by in a shade over twenty minutes; the cohesion that Western Addiction imbue each of these songs with is incredible, making the album have a distinctive sound soon after it has started. With tracks like It’s Funny, I Don’t Feel Like A Winner”, Western Addiction really move away from the Black Flag style that dominated the earlier track and into something resembling a blend of Descendents and Dead Kennedys. There is so much more to Western Addiction than simply carrying the banner of the bands they liked in youth; there is an active formation of a new hardcore/punk sound that really taps all sorts of bands (even newer stuff like “Ignition”-era Offspring) in its construct. Tracks are radio-worthy without pandering to that dynamic; “Cognicide” is fun even when one considers its brutal edge.

Something nice about Western Addiction is the fresh sound of their compositions; even though the tracks are given a gloss that the poorer bands of an earlier time would not be able to give, the style of the music played sounds as vibrant and lively in a 1985 context at it does now. For their next album, I would hope that Western Addiction maybe incorporate more of their influences into the matrix of the band; the twelve cuts here are always intense but lose some of their edge when they fail to always innovate. I think that Western Addiction may just be the nearest thing to The Pissants since the latter band existed, too (which is a great thing to hear).

Top Tracks: Corralling Pestilence, Mailer Meet Jim

Rating: 7.1/10

[JMcQ]