[rating:2/5]
(c) 2010 Kickass Records / Disconnect Records
Somewhere in Gothenburg, Sweden, there is a mad punk rock scientist toiling away in his punk rock lab. His creation? Rebuke.
The latest album from the Swedish quartet, Wouldworks, is an aggressive hybrid of the band’s varied influences. The melodic Gothenburg metal style is painted all over the California punk sound, so much so that at times it leaves you wondering if In Flames was jamming with Bad Religion with the occasional hardcore yell thrown in from time to time. With more tempo and time signature changes than Metallica’s …And Justice For All, Rebuke seems not unsure, but unwilling to settle on which direction they are heading in, with the short punk-rock-length songs (the majority of the album’s songs are under 2:30) resembling a teenager flipping between 6 different TV channels in 1 minute. Not one song of the 13 ever starts with a distinct sound and sticks to it.
Simply put, remember when you used to take a cup at the soda fountain and put some of each different flavor in it? Yeah, it’s sorta like that (and it tastes worse than you remember).
In the end, Wouldworks could have been a decent metal-tinged punk album, but just gets too mired in its own ADHD to come together.
Imagine yourself walking through an apocalyptic 1950s Hollywood. An ominous wind howls down empty streets. A bone white moon hangs in the sky. The unsettling calm is replaced with the the sound of engines revving and tires squealing. The moon turns to blood. The scraping of shuffled feet draws near. In seconds you’re surround by pompadour-bedecked greasers and buxom undead vamps with low cut tops and the worst intentions. The upright bass begins to thump out a rhythm. Guitars wail. You don’t seem to mind that your brains are now becoming a meal.