The Restarts – A Sickness Of The Mind

The Restarts have been around for approximately two decades and have recorded numerous EP’s, splits and albums, A Sickness Of The Mind is their latest release. I must admit that our paths hadn’t crossed until I saw them do a blistering live set at North West Calling 2016 and after that gig I was a convert to their cause, over the years I’ve seen many hardcore bands whose act works live but their recordings don’t quite capture the fury and energy of the band, is this the case on this album?

This is blistering political punk rock with a hardcore edge to it, the recording caputres the essence of the band with the relentless upfront attack that reflects their live performance. They manage to avoid the other pitfall of aggressive hardcore political punk albums, where they can becomes repetitive through the unrelenting barrage. Each track on A Sickness Of The Mind has it’s own character and there are influences from other genre’s in there, most notably a ska influence on a number of tracks, especially on Uganda Calling and the closing track, Painter Man, a furious cover of a track written by The Creation and made famous by Boney M. The Restarts have honed their righteous anger at inequality and political corruption to a razor sharp point and this album is coherent energetic political statement.

This is one of the best hardcore albums I’ve heard, yes they are best experienced live but that is reflection on just how good they are in the flesh rather than a negative comment on this album. A Sickness Of The Mind is twelve tracks of uncompromising political commentary and if you aren’t familiar with The Restarts you need to rectify this situation, and this album would be a damn fine place to start.