MARCH – Get In

The teenage girl in the Ramones T shirt she bought in a High Street retail outlet, well, her parents weren’t even born when the Ramones were playing CBGB’s and ever since those primordial times the debate has raged about what punk is or isn’t. Some would argue that that girl has not earned the right to appropriate that cultural identity. Others would rightfully counter by saying that telling someone else what they could or could not wear would be the very antithesis of punk. And this debate will rage as long as there are people to remember how things were and have strong ideas about how things should be. In my mind at least, it’s pretty clear: punk was never a uniform or a style of music. It was an attitude with no boundaries or barriers. Festivals like Rebellion underline this perfectly. Every act that graces the stage is as punk as you want them to be, by virtue of being there and doing it. And no-one has the right to say otherwise.

Which brings us neatly to Dutch/Belgian rock band MARCH and their third full-length outing Get In. This is, without argument, a rock record. A belting, balls-out, full-on, thunderous rock record that will melt your face from the very first riff and screamed “yeaaahhhh” of opener Tell Your Kids We’ll Be Alright: ‘White collars fancy suits/Big fat BMWs/Self-made men, their pockets full/Humming the supply chain blues …’ This track alone qualifies the album for review on a punk site. It’s a snorting, indignant excoriation of the corporate world and a warning shot across the bows of those in danger of getting sucked into the consume/dispose vortex. All delivered as a slab of super-listenable straight-ahead rock music. This style might not be for everybody, but deliberate or not, there is a trend towards this kind of melodic, angry punk/rock. Maybe it’s a crossover, maybe it’s a symptom of changing attitudes and the possibility of control. With the reliance on huge record companies and their resources gone, bands of all kinds control their own destinies across genres. This is the true legacy of the early days of punk. Get In is MARCH‘s personal manifesto for these dangerous modern times.

But Get In is also a fucking excellent record. It’s a fiery and accomplished collection of first-class songs, from the radio-friendly, mid-Atlantic rock of Valley to the frantic, thundering metal of Heart Undressed or the buzzing, grinding power-blues of Vultures, or the mega-riffy Sceptic’s Creed which puts New Age quackery to the sword and then spikes its head on the city wall., there’s something for everyone on this album. Unless you enjoy restful, pastoral mandolin music, that is.

MARCH are angry and it’s beautiful. Get In is 12 super-spicy slices of furious punk/rock delivered with a bucket of attitude. Singer Fleur van Zuilen describes the album as “…the open door of a getaway car waiting to pick you up. A race car that will get chased, get scratched and get dirty as fuck, but always keep running. With windows open and radio on!”

We suggest you Get In.

Get In by MARCH is out now on Concrete Jungle Records.