U.S. Bombs – Covert Action

Skater legend, Duane Peters is the front man of this incredibly explosive punk rock band called The US Bombs. These guys will not be a band that will be forgotten a couple weeks after their release, and be put into the back of my collection. No way, this politically minded band will still be playing in my CD player for a very, very long time. The album has 13 powerful, fast paced punk rock songs, and then also the music video for their first single (and CD opener) Roll Around.

The aforementioned song is my favorite song on the album, a perfect choice for the first single and a even better choice to open the album up with. The song is packed of good guitar riffs, bass tunes, guitar beats, powerful vocals and even a couple woahs. The second song is also my second favorite, and it goes by the name of Shot Down. it opens up with a good combination of guitar/bass and drums, 10 seconds in the vocals commence with “I’ve Got A Pistol And I’m Gonna Use It“. The entire song is about getting revenge on a cheating wife (by killing the two perpetrators). Around a minute thirty in, it slows down and bit for some more steady and coherent vocals. The way that little segment is done is amazing, and shows just to a point the major skill off this band.

I am going to stop here in the middle of my review to talk about the band’s lyrical content, and quite frankly, it is really good. With all the pop-punkers appearing everywhere singing about sex, drugs and booze,US Bombs sing about important stuff like The Okalahoma bombing, saying the White House is being run badly (and should instead have mobster has a leader), experiments on animals, all with good research behind it. The lyrics and incredible, and are a good change to see then what we normally do.

Now heading back to my review now, tracks 4 and 5 are some other good ones. Croatia Breaks  and Framed. The first of the two opens with a great guitar tune. After the first verse, the vocals interchange in the second, between Duane Peters and then the backup vocalists. That is a new sound which is done again incredibly well. In-between the verses there are some duos of bass and drums, and they are spectacular, and really get you hooked to the song. The song is al about living in a third world country and how hard it is. The later of the two, Framed is about the Okalahoma bombing. It is a pretty good song, but not quite as good as the others I’ve talked about. John Gottie is then the a song about how a mobster would run the White House better. The vocals are catchy, and has great guitar riffs.

Art Kills opens with a bass riff. the vocals are easy “Kill, I Kill Too Much. I Killed You“. This song has a slightly different sound the the rest, with a much more apparent bass by Wade Walston. It is a really good song to place near the middle of the song, because it doesn’t make your want to stop the album, it still keeps your interest.

Faith Of Marie (track 12) is just a 2:31 song with no vocals, it is a very different thing then the rest of the album, with a much more tropical feel for it. The final song is called American Made, it is a mere 33 seconds long and is incredibly fast song with fairly simple vocals. To me, the band could’ve easily ended the album slightly stronger then this, but it is not a bad way to end it.

Overall, this bands provides you with many things that are missing from most punk you hear. It has dedicated vocals, powerful lyrics, catchy bass and guitar riffs and steady drumming.