Colt 45 – Snakes And Ladders EP

Colt 45‘s latest offering is the Snakes And Ladders EP, it is the follow up to their 2014 debut album, The Tide Is Turning. Whilst their full length showed a more measured and polished approach to their sound, this EP marks a return to the frantic energy of their early self released EP’s. This is melodic punk rock with no pretensions or commercial intent, it sounds like the music Colt 45 wanted to make with no compromises made. It is authentic blue collar punk rock born from an area that has seen more than it’s fair share of hardships over the years.

It opens with I Can Forgive But I Won’t Forget, this is an impressive opening full of channelled fury, this sounds like the best song NOFX never wrote and is a serious statement of intent. The remaining five tracks contained on Snakes And Ladders demonstrate that this impressive trio are no one trick pony, the sextet of tracks contained on this EP showcase a range of tempos and styles but all the while maintains their melodic punk sensibilities. Stylistically Colt 45 remind me of Therapy? and Three Colours Red when those two bands were at the peak of their powers, that’s not to say that Colt 45 haven’t got their own identity, whilst elements of the material show their influences these have been amalgamated into their own sound.

I hope this Cumbrian trio continue to make records of this quality, I’ll be looking out for their name and hoping they’ll be heading towards a venue near me in the near future,  I can only imaging that a band that sounds like this is always best experienced live, in the meantime Snakes And Ladders will tide me over nicely.