Album Review: Pizzatramp – Grand Relapse

Louis Theroux‘s documentary on Scientology is fresh on my mind when I first spin this, so the Grand Relapse‘s merciless opening track Captain Sea Org and its L Ron Hubbard-introduced laser-bomb destruction of that cult creates an instant connection that nothing that follows can break. Pizzatramp call themselves a skate-thrash-punk outfit but in their philosophy and ethos, they’re firmly in the Discharge/Antisect/GBH camp: they’re unlikely to appeal to you if you have a rosy view of society and like gently self-deprecating songs about failing relationships. Pizzatramp deliver a very pure vision of how street punk should be – loud, fast but crucially, very real and immediate with a massive helping of ‘fuck you’ to what they call a ‘faltering society’.

Grand Relapse is 15 songs of unalloyed, frantic and furious punk rock. Top track? Probably Stop Being A Racist Cunt, not least because it kicks off with a soundbite from one of Stewart Lee‘s most vitriolic and brilliant riffs. You cannot disentangle the underlying politics from this record. Nor should you. It’s not party-political, it is protest music that in the band’s words “… tackles the dangers of taking pills on school nights, the stupidity of white racist scum, the systematic destruction of the NHS, the mindless hell of working rubbish jobs and a load of songs about hangovers, comedowns and drinking.” Amen to all of that.

Musically, it’s ferocious and uncompromising speed punk. Very, very listenable and very polished for a DIY production without being glossy. If you could run the national grid on this, Pizzatramp‘s energy would see us powered-up for decades to come. Play loud. Grand Relapse is now available to pre-order from TNSrecords on picture disc, orange vinyl and CD.

Grand Relapse can be pre-ordered via TNSrecords here

Pizzatramp‘s website can be found here