Album Review: Muskets – Chew

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Muskets

Chew - No Sleep Records

Muskets found their birth in Brighton, UK where they quickly engaged in the city’s always growing music scene and connected with like minded peers who held a shared DIY ethos and influence of grunge, punk and emo sounds, Muskets will release their debut LP Chew via No Sleep Records on October 20th 2017. Their unique blend of grunge tinged hardcore made a distinct impression on me when I caught them live supporting Culture Abuse and Tiger’s Jaw earlier this year, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing whether Muskets can harness the spirit of their impressive ‘slacker punk’ in the studio.

Pond Drop eases you gently into the album before the drums and overdrive kick in, and from this point there’s no looking back. There’s a hefty debt to grunge in the band’s sound, but this is no pale shadow of that scene, Muskets are a band that have developed their own fuzzy and intense hybrid of punk rock and grunge. Whilst there isn’t any filler on Chew, the tracks Chewing Gum and You’re So Cool, both of which were released as singles, stand out as a intense blasts of punk rock amongst the album’s hazier grunge heavy tracks. The end result is that Chew is an impressive debut album by a band who are very much doing things on their own terms.

Chew is an album that blends punk, grunge and alternative to impressive effect, bands such as Fugazi and early recordings by the likes of Pixies, Nirvana and At The Drive In can clearly be heard in the album’s DNA. Chew proves that Muskets are a band that deliver both live and in the studio and their debut full length is a serious statement of intent from this Brighton quartet. Chew is an album that will appeal to those with a love of the bands that informed their sound, and for those of us who just like a good blast of adrenaline fuelled fucked up noise.

Chew can be pre-ordered here via No Sleep Records on physical formats here and digitally via Bandcamp here

Muskets Facebook page can be found here