The Filthy Radicals – The Fine Line Between Real & Insane

Toronto ska-punk upstarts The Filthy Radicals are of those bands that transcend their genre markers.  Ska-punk is just the tip of the iceberg for the fanatical six-piece, blending elements of thrash, street punk, reggae and just about anything else you’d find running raw at an underground punk festival.  The press release hits the nail on the head with comparisons to elements of Mischief Brew, Op Ivy and Choking Victim.  The Filthy Radicals are not your younger brother’s ska band.  In other words, they share more with Direct Hit!, The Carry Ons, and Chilled Monkey Brains than Goldfinger or Reel Big Fish.  

Opener “Scavenger” throws each of these styles in a blender and blends them to a pulp.  Unhinged upstrokes, buzz sawing guitars, blaring brass and throaty vocals make for a an easy comparison to The Atom Age or Bomb the Music Industry.  The band flexes their street-punk chops for the aggressive, rough-and-tumble delivery of “That’s Quite Enough,” while others, like “Bug Stepper,” take a mid-tempo approach more akin to the band’s reggae inspiration, with a sound that has a distinct asymmetry to it, yet somehow manages to still thrive within its fractured melody.  

Lyrically, “The Baby Boomer Show” opens by borrowing its first line from Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”  The song channels the generational angst felt by millennials and more recent generations towards the boomers who truly never knew how good they had it.  “Our fathers built a life / That won’t keep us alive / The world’s inflated / To where wage will not survive” accuses the band, later defending against accusations, stating that “We are working longer than / They ever did before / Still they call us lazy while / Demanding so much more.”  There’s a strong sense of intergenerational hostility as everyone looks to blame the other for the average citizen’s declining standard of living.  

I found myself getting most excited about the pulse pumping tempo of “Nothing to Write Home About.”  The track is a fast moving, brass dominated little number that instantly made me wish that Streetlight Manifesto would emerge from dormancy and finally release the album we’ve all been waiting nearly a decade for.  If that never happens I would seriously consider lobbying The Filthy Radicals to release a spiritual successor.  Speaking of likenesses, “Carry On” finds the band channeling their inner Tim Armstrong, meandering along to the finish line, closing the album with a casual tempo, acoustic, strumming, and lazy, countrified harmonica.  

With such an adept and wide range of styles within their cozy little niche, The Filthy Radicals have made a big statement within this tight little six-track EP.  Not a weak track punctuates this track listing, speaking volumes to their identity as musicians.  The Fine Line Between Real and Insane lives up to its name, taking chances that might be nerve racking on paper, but pay off in practice.  The Filthy Radicals have set a high bar, and I can’t wait for them to exceed it with their next full length.