Album Review: Spam Javelin – The Three Chords Of The Apocalypse
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
With perhaps the best band name since Spunk Volcano and the Eruptions, Welsh trio Spam Javelin release this new collection of tracks, inspired by, and a commentary on, a Covid-19 blighted world.
Embracing the ethos of the Punk movement from back in the day, Spam Javelin use their platform to rage against the current establishment machine. The Three Chords of the Apocalypse revels in it’s obnoxious attitude and its disparaging opinion of the world, circa 2020/21, with tracks Herd Impunity and Children of the Shoe acting as vehicles for demanding social change. The autobiographical God Bless America and the savage We’ve Made Plans for Nigel leave the listener in no doubt over Spam Javelin’s alignment with the Left of politics.
If you don’t share the band’s politics the subject matter can become wearisome after a while, so Spam Javelin switch it up and bang out a few snotty-nosed-punk songs, dripping with attitude and a flick of the ‘V’s to all. You’re a Sanctimonious Prick and Fuck You need little explaining and Joy Division Tool is a Peter Hook-inspired-bassline comment about the Hipster generation.
For the most part, Spam Javelin’s music is anchored in the sub-hardcore punk of the UK82 movement. Occasionally I was reminded of The Macc Lads – not due to any lyrically content (although Super Twat and I Used to be A Punk) are not a million miles away – rather in the influences and delivery.
The entire record is built upon a hugely effective rhythm section, with a bass so filthy it seems as though it should be on register somewhere. Cogged Up’s urge to individuality sees the bass bouncing like Zebedee and underpinning a riff that begs to be played in front of a pogoing crowd.
Bookending the whole shebang is the three-part epic: Shit You Don’t Need, More Shite You Don’t Need and Even More… (you get the picture). Played out in three movements (sorry!) this attack on the consumer culture begins with a simple punk motif before barrelling into a twenty-first century version of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.
Having paid their dues with such bands as Stiff Little Fingers, 999 and the Cockney Rejects, Spam Javelin encapsulate the ethos of punk protest, channelling their inner Dead Kennedys and DOA in a stream of indignant fury. The punk spirit certainly is alive and well in 2021.
