Face To Face – Protection

Punk veterans Face To Face were originally formed in California in 1991 and over the years they have maintained an admirable work ethic, to date there have been nine albums and countless singles and EP’s. Even during their five year hiatus between 2004 and 2008 the members of Face To Face didn’t sit on their laurels, as they went off and worked with punk luminaries such as Me First And The Gimme Gimme’s, The Offspring and Saves The Day before returning to the fold.

This is Face To Face‘s third studio album since they reformed and this release signifies their return to Fat Wreck Chords, over two decades after their debut was released on the label, and with Bill Stevenson of The Descendents at the helm Protection is an enticing prospect. The eleven songs on this album are all straight up shots of punk rock and  it’s incredibly hard to pick a stand out track from the pack, having said that I think that I Won’t Say I’m Sorry is the pick of the litter with it’s machine gun drumming, slick tempo changes and impassioned choruses but with the other ten cuts on Protection being so remarkably consistent it’s a close run thing.

Face To Face bear the scars of the last twenty five years and wear them like badges of honour. The album is heavily tinged with the insight, and hindsight, that has been accumulated by the band and Protection marks a return to form that not only harks back to the creativity and energy of their younger days, but also embraces and channels the highs and lows of the last twenty five years. The result is an infectious, intelligent and polished album that stands up against anything else they’ve recorded.