Tear Them Down – This Is A Mutiny

Sweden’s Tear Them Down rose from the ashes of little know and short lived punk rock act Nemas, so the five polished, catchy tunes making up their debut EP, This Is A Mutiny should come with little surprise.  Landing somewhere between hard necked beats of The Brokedowns and spunky, poppy pep of The Cobra Skulls, this is ten minutes of wholly digestible fun that never outstays its welcome.

Over before it really starts, these quick paced, well-structured punk songs emit a positive energy pull of satisfying crowd pleasers.  Starting with “Life In Sin,” an attractive combination of chorus-verse-chorus makes This Is A Mutiny a safe album that’s easy to fall into.  Boasting plenty of melodic guitar led bridges, songs like “I Won’t Go” lurch along with ample backing vocals and gang-style choruses to boot.  Always on the move, “My Revue” sits snuggly in the middle with a blistering pace and belted vocals that find the band briefly gnashing their teeth like 90’s Epitaph punks Deviates.  “Is It All In My Head?” serves as a tight response, juxtaposing the former’s raw edge with the album’s most bubblegum-coated pop-laced chorus – and it works – well.

The album ends on the musically “cheery” note of “Finnigan,” in which the band jovially sings about one middle class family man’s turn to the bottle and his accompanying slide into nameless, faceless homelessness.  But even depressing subject matter can’t dampen Tear Them Down’s unruly spirit – This I A Mutiny is above all a fun affair, and the boys keep it so every step of the way.  While Tear Them Down do little to distance themselves from their influences, it’s hard to be disappointed in This Is A Mutiny and not eagerly anticipate the eventual full-length follow-up.