Desperate Measures – Sublime Destruction

London’s Desperate Measures are primed to unleash Sublime Destruction next week with their appropriately titled new album. The band are currently clocking up the miles with likes of Dead Boys, Buzzcocks and Janus Stark, and the company they’ve been keeping on the road should give you an idea of what to expect. Desperate Measures roots lie way back in punk’s history, but whilst their roots run deep, it’s what blooms on the surface that catches your attention, and in that context what has erupted through the weeds is an unexpected and near perfect hybrid.

The band’s current line up of Eugene Butcher (editor of the esteemed Vive Le Rock magazine), Ricky McGuire (UK Subs / The Fits / The Men They Couldn’t Hang), Michael Gaffney (Rich Ragany & The Digressions) and James Sherry (Done Lying Down) also hints at what to expect with their collective pedigree, not just from punk’s old school, but across the board from the roots of folk punk to the rockier side of the street. The end result is a feisty hybrid that draws from their influences, peers and past exploits to create something that is simultaneously all of those things and none of them.

The seeds of Sublime Destruction lie way back in the pandemic years, and if you want a positive of lockdown, and I know it’s difficult to look back at those bleak years with any fondness, look at the albums that have emerged in the years that followed our collective wilderness years. Many bands returned with something that surpassed your expectations after months and years with nothing to do but write and refine new material, Sublime Destruction is one of those albums. It contains eight new tracks alongside the three previously released singles, Thinking Of England, Back To The Rats and the album’s title track, that veer between the personal and political and are all delivered with a seismic approach that is impossible to ignore.

This is an album that puts the rock firmly into punk rock, Desperate Measures are somehow managing to be both punk and rock simultaneously, the balance between competing influences is perfectly balanced, the choruses hook you in, the guitars wail and the drums are thunderous, with Butcher’s raw vocals topping off the whole sonic assault perfectly. Similarly, somehow the production on Sublime Destruction sounds both raw and polished, which shouldn’t be possible, yet here we are. Desperate Measures are a perfect hybrid of melodic punk and rock influences, creating something that has equal appeal on both fronts. Theoretically there has to be a sweet spot between two differing but equally desirable states, with their latest album Desperate Measures seem to have found it

Sublime Destruction will be released through digital platforms and on CD & Vinyl on the 22nd March via Cadiz Music. Desperate Measures are currently on tour across the UK and beyond with further dates and festival appearances to be announced.