Violent Arrest – Life Inside The Western Bloc /Distorted View – CD/Vinyl Album (Boss Tunage)
An interesting little package here with the 10 tracks of the ‘Distorted View’ part of the album being the last stuff recorded with original vocalist Steve Hazzard (including the two tracks from the 7” split VA did with Endless Grinning Skulls for Artcore zine), and the 12 tracks comprising ‘Life Inside The Western Bloc’ recorded with new vocalist and Artcore Editor Welly, including a pretty tasty Mau Mau’s cover (‘Clampdown’). Musically all tracks have the energetic Boston infused Hardcore style long-time VA listeners will be familiar with, although there’s an undeniable melodic edge creeping in which may or may be due to the new vocalist’s penchant for a good tune, the incredibly catchy ‘Cold Front’ being an excellent example of this. Lyrically the band retains their vitriolic attack on officialdom, our zombie-like consumer/worker culture and the scapegoating of the poor. Its fast, its furious, its essential. Ian Pickens