The Suicide Machines – Revolution Spring

In the fifteen years between Detroit punk outfit The Suicide Machines’ last album and the present, entire trends have come and gone, the United States has gone from Bush to Obama to Trump, The Van Warped Tour went from iconic cultural display to obsolete and recently cancelled corporate cash-in, and the band’s former label, SideOneDummy Records, went from trend setting purveyors of punk rock to a dormant roster dominated by anniversary editions albums.  To say the band has returned to a radically altered landscape is an understatement.

But where does a band that time has all but forgotten return to after such an absence?  Well, for the release of their seventh studio album, Revolution Spring, The Suicide Machines have found a new home amongst old friends with the Fat Wreck Chords family. 

The Suicide Machines have always been a powerful fusion of punk-rock and strategically invoked upstroke tuneage, and after fifteen years, they haven’t missed a beat. The best way to break down any album by The Suicide Machines is by range of stylistic variations.  Revolution Spring includes everything from raucous mosh-pit madness, to toe tapping mid-tempo melodic punk rock and upstroke-a-licious ditties.  Each a hallmark of the band’s vast style.

Generally speaking, the album is built around the more melodic side of The Suicide Machines’ talents.  While the band has never been remarkably anthemic, “Well Whiskey Wishes” stands out like something in the Rise Against or Anti-Flag camp.  With a combination of ballsy guitar and muscular vocals the track sails along, pausing for each chorus with singable melodies and choral hooks.  Opener “Bully In Blue” wraps the formula around a lyrical storm of social issues, ranging from race and social justice to police brutality, each coated in a layer of revolt.  “Trapped in a Bomb” and “Eternal Contrarian” round out the album’s offering of straight up solid mid-tempo punk as equally notable highlights. 

But when it comes to the heart of Revolution Spring’s pulsing beat, the band’s inclusion of some thrashy, unhinged throwbacks to their early days is more than welcome.  Tracks like “Black Tar Halo” and “Flint Hostage Crisis” forfeit melody at the foot of chaos in favour of unhinged and unbridled bursts of energy.  They’re the moments that authenticate the band’s passion for social justice, erupting purely from the heart without restraint. “Detroit is the New Miami” stands as the most clearly impassioned, with the band belting with the fury and breakneck pace of Black Flag against the tides of climate change denialists and waves of corporate interests pushing earth to the brink of environmental catastrophe.

And of course, the backbone of any Suicide Machines album is a underlying and invigorating upstroke.  Not to be confused with ska tunes, they are one of the bands from the 90’s that laid the groundwork for fast and furious followers like The Carry-Ons and other like-minded bands.  Tracks like “Awkward Always,” “To Play Caesar (Is to Be Stabbed to Death),” “Empty Time,” “Impossible Possibilities,” and “Simple,” ground the album in a celebration of benevolent defiance that begs at least a loose comparison Goldfinger’s harder offerings. One of my personal favourites, “Babylon of Ours,” even infuses a string of wavering organ notes between each chorus.  It’s a nice touch, and showcases how fluid The Suicide Machines can make their music.

If I’m being totally honest, I had all but forgotten about The Suicide Machines until this rather unexpected return.  I had always enjoyed a few of their songs on various playlists and compilations, but they were never one of my top contenders.  Revolution Spring changes that in a big way.  Every year a veteran act seems to resurface and remind us all why we fell into this punk rock world in the first place.  This year that crown goes to The Suicide Machines.  Revolution Spring is an undeniable throwback that once again proves the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it mentality of punk rock.