Let it never be said that hard work doesn't eventually get rewarded. For the last eighteen years, Israeli punks Useless ID have released albums and toured at a tireless rate and built a devoted fanbase (among which Jello Biafra numbers himself) which each successive move they've made. There's no doubt it must have been a hard road for the band (UI is often referred to as Israel's most successful punk band – but doesn't mean the amount of exposure they've received has made them household names) but, with Symptoms, Useless ID appears to be in a position where they may finally get a leg up and break out; now signed to Fat Wreck Chords, Useless ID's seventh LP features twelve diamond hard and razor sharp songs which could easily lay the groundwork for the band's introduction to a larger North American audience.
From the opening assault of “Live Or Die,” Useless ID shows the uninitiated precisely what they're made of as, with an unshakable foundation supplied by drummer Jonathan Harpak, guitarists Guy Carmel and Ishay Berger sear the sensibilities of listeners with a perfect one-two wallop of pop melody and adamantine punk brutality which is guaranteed to get some notice. Here, the band comes on strong, confident and ready (how could they not be after eighteen years?) and the production supplied by Bill Stevenson ensures that listeners won't be able to miss a minute – and nor would they want to. From that strong beginning, the band seems to go out of its way to out-do itself with each successive song as, through “Before It Kills,” “Erratic,” “Manic Depression” and “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,” they keep hitting a new plateau. Symptoms really is a group effort in that no one member is responsible for all the magic; here, sometimes it is Berger who throws in the incendiary guitar lines (as is certainly the case with the title track) and sometimes it's Harpak who packs in a most incredible percussive turn (check “Manic Depression” for an excellent example) but, beyond all that, singer/bassist Yotam Horin maintains some phenomenal ground as he crosses some truly dark and worrisome imagery (“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder” will give listeners chills – no kidding) with some of the best and best-refined pop-punk melodies to come along in years (the closest approximation in recent memory might be Kris Roe from The Ataris).
After eighteen years, it would be easy enough to say that an album like Symptoms was due from Useless ID, but the truth is that it couldn't have come along at a better time both for the band and for punk rock in general. In 2012, punk rock has gotten pretty diffuse and needed a band to come along and show listeners where ground zero should be for the music in the twenty-first century; thereby re-starting things in a good and solid and not wildly complicated place. With Symptoms, Useless ID has done that and they'll be the ones who get to finally enjoy the success while everyone rushes back to join them.
Artist:
www.myspace.com/uselessid
www.facebook.com/pages/Useless-ID/
www.twitter.com/uselessid
Download:
Useless ID – "Before It Kills" – Symptoms
Further Reading:
Ground Control – "Useless ID Break Through – Again" (2010) – [Feature]
Album:
Symptoms will be released on February 14, 2012 by Fat Wreck Chords. Pre-order it here on Amazon .
