Single Review: Fit To Work – Voluntary Severance EP

Fit To Work are a quasi-autonomous, non-governmental punk act based in Glasgow. Poet and performer Harry Josephine Giles joined with old schoolmates Daniel Firth (Cradle of Filth), Iain Stewart (The Phantom Band) and Duncan Harcus to blast a scathing invective over a frantic backdrop of hardcore punk that incorporates elements of thrash and grindcore. They released their debut EP, Dealing With Anger In The Workplace, in July 2017 that covered a range of often-political themes with songs varying in tone from deadly serious to seriously silly. They have since brought their relentless live show to festivals and venues around the country and have now released their second EP, Voluntary Severance.

The fact that a member of Cradle Of Filth is involved in Fit To Work should have given you a hint that this was going to be an intense EP, and it is, this is five tracks of relentless hardcore crossover. The Voluntary Severance EP randomly hits you with fury whether they’re declaring We Will Kill Again or that All Cats Are Beautiful, politics come to the fore with the wonderfully titled Friends Don’t Let Friends Become Men’s Rights Activists before the EP goes out kicking and screaming with Admit It and Your Ontology is Fucking Basic. The five tracks are done and dusted in around twelve hectic minutes, the result is that Voluntary Severance is as frantic and in your face as anything I’ve heard this year.

There’s an obvious political influence that defines Fit To Work, the band’s name refers to the cruel assessments that have left many in the UK who suffer from physical disabilities and mental health issues living in poverty, the other side to Fit To Work is that they are fun, they remind of of the UK’s hardcore scene in the eighties where the policitcal message was clear but the bands, for the most part, didn’t take themselves too seriously. The kind of intense hit that Fit To Work deliver will always be best experienced live, but having said that Voluntary Severance is an EP that indicates that hardcore is alive and well North of the border.

Voluntary Severance can be streamed and purchased via Bandcamp here