C.R.A.S.H.
A War on All Fronts 7″ EP
PPM

I can’t decide whether hardcore was more fun back in the 80s, when there was little irony and people thought it was the ONE TRUE PUNK, or more fun now. Clearly I prefer the latter-day stuff, though when played in the super group C.R.A.S.H. by folks like Dean Spunt from No Age and Michelle Suarez of Mika Miko, you kind of get the feeling that this is a creative breather for them–like those hardcore songs the Beastie Boys wedged into their albums in the 90s. They don’t mean it in the way Dr. Know and Ill Repute MEANT it. But then again, the songs on A War on All Fronts are fast and fierce, 100% punk, and the lyrics are biting, personally political and unapologetic–no irony here. The best tune on this 5 song 7″ is the least hard of the bunch, “Life to Live.” If these guys keep going and growing, I hope this song is the path their work takes. And since this was recorded months and months ago, maybe they already have?

-D. M. Collins