SNFU

Never Trouble Trouble, Until Trouble Troubles You

Written by: PP on 22/01/2014 23:40:05

Some of you may have heard the name SNFU in passing, perhaps as a reference mentioned in an interview or on a list of similar artists next to Descendents and Bad Religion somewhere, but not much else, so a history lesson may be in order. Formed in 1981 in Edmonton, Canada, SNFU are often cited to be one of the pioneering bands for the birth of skate punk, alongside influencing both Descendents and Bad Religion on especially their late 80s and early 90s albums. "Never Trouble Trouble, Until Trouble Troubles You" is their 8th album overall and their first since 2004, their second nearly a decade long break in the history of the band, in fact making the album only their third one since 1996 overall.

That's a shame, because SNFU's pioneering style can be so vividly heard in the records by Descendents and Bad Religion, but also in Pennywise and other tighter skate punk bands that utilize heavier guitar tuning to achieve that punishingly heavy effect. And despite Ken Chinn being the only remaining original member of SNFU - in fact he is also the only member who was present nine years ago on "In The Meantime And In Between Time" - SNFU continue to take us on a nostalgia trip to the foundations of skate punk and how it all used to sound like during the mid 80s. You know, before Bad Religion released "Suffer" and permanently ignited the golden 90s era for punk rock in general. Thick bass-lines, Bad Religion-ish droning vocals, and tight guitars that remind you of Pennywise is what you get, albeit in a simplified, old school format that definitely sounds like it's almost three decades old.

Still, sounding old is not always a bad thing, and here SNFU prove just why it's good that the classic sound hasn't changed much in three decades. "Buy My Own Hand", "Arm In A Sling" and "Voodoo Doll Collector" all define the old school sing along perfectly, whereas "Ashes" sounds like a song that, had it been released in the 80s, would've given both punk and hardcore bands much more room to experiment with their sound than they did stylistically speaking back in the day. Most importantly, what SNFU and this album stands for is an era of punk rock before the Epitaph / Fat Wreck revolution which cleaned up the production and made the songs more melodic. You can still hear the hardcore roots in these songs, yet they are also catchy and enjoyable even without the clean riffs and polished sound overall.

7

Download: Buy My Own Hand, Arm In A Sling
For the fans of: Descendents, Bad Religion, Pennywise, Swingin' Utters
Listen: Facebook

Release date 24.09.2013
Cruzar Media

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