Big Ripper is a monstrous record. It’s the album Godzilla has in his headphones as he’s trashing Manhattan. It’s what King Kong hears in his head as he’s beating his chest at the top of the Empire State building.
Musically, it’s an exhilirating riff stew with drums the sound of wrecking balls demolishing houses. Everything is distorted - every sound is so far in the red the dials are practically bleeding.
It’s no dumb brutallity though. The song structures are deceptively cunning - weaving in hooks and magic twists. There’s Brainiac style heavy effect vocals and there’s some amazing, inventive guitar playing - even a whiff of flamenco on "country and western super posters" like we’ve just tuned into Spanish radio by mistake.
Plus there are liberal doses of righteous Sabbathy grooves and an instinctive pull on the reigns at just the right moments to keep the songs from sprawling away from us.
It’s what Torche or The Melvins would sound like if they’d consumed a massive amount of speed, taken an andrenalin hit to their hearts and injected steroids into their cocks.
In a year of amazing DIY punk albums that delight in the joy of making a big fucking noise, Big Ripper is the most extreme.
I’m going to have to revise my ‘best of 2009’ list to make room for it.
Download Country and Western Super Posters!
Get Big Ripper on Vinyl, Get Todd T-shirts and check out their instore gig at Rough Trade on release day
Todd’s record label Riot Season have wisely decided to release the album on vinyl. Nice! They’ve also put out some very cool Todd shirts.
And to top it all off, Todd are playing at Rough Trade East at 7pm on the day the album comes out - 23rd Nov 2009.
Get more info about all this goodness on the Riot Season website
"You only get to appreciate what you do when you're not doing it," says bassist Rob Canning, slurping on a tea. "and now we're back, we're buzzing to go."
PART ONE: WELCOME TO 2008
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Also check out the review here
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