Tantichrist – Tantichrist (Evil Tone)
Try as hard as I can, I can’t divorce Tantichrist frontman Nicky Steps from his alter ego in Australia Uber Alles, the country’s best and maybe only Dead Kennedys tribute act. That’s not such a bad thing, considering how good a Jello he makes and the sonic and lyrical similarities in Tantichrist.
So the basics: Tantichrist is a four-piece from Sydney's woke Inner Western heartland and this is their debut album. It’s on Evil Tone who never miss. It’s raucous and sometimes melodic punk rock – or more correctly, rock punk – that’s tightly wound and lytically charged.
Some people question if punk rock should be political when 90 percent of it is. Punk, whatever your definition, has always been about questioning the status quo without necessarily straying into partisanship. As Tantichrist says in opening cut “Chasm”: “Everyone is entitled to my own opinion”. You don't have to agree with every word to sing along.
Topics range from conspiracy theories (“The Sky Is Falling”) n and stupidity (“Home Genius”) to NIMBY culture wars (”Kids Of The Lane”), market economics (“Fire Sale”) and steroids-fuelled Friday nights (“Fuck Or Fight”). Most of it is cutting and mischievous rather than preachy. There’s a streak of black humour running through this record.
Sonically speaking, Tantichrist bounce around like a boxer evading an opponent’s stereotyping-laden jabs. Guitarist Mitch Hertz has been listening to surf rock and a lot of East Bay Ray (Learning Deep”, “Learning Deep” and “Buried Away”) but doesn’t restrict himself. The engine room of Leigh Hawkins (on bass except for two tracks) and Yoshi Hausler is as tight as a fish’s sphincter but knows when to back off.
“Frackenstein” and “Buried Away” are foot-to-the-floor punk rock but the tempos are more measured on tracks like the hooky “Afterimage”. The acrid “Sad Boys (Need Loving Too)” gnaws away on a meaty riff or two before escalating into pyrotechnic guitar, while “Kids Of The Lane” pounds itself into the ground, Melvins-style.
Nicky Steps stands at the centre of all this, hurling barbs at whichever enemy bobs up in the circle pit and sounding like he means it. There’s enough of Jello’s helium warble in there to remind you of the DKs without him falling into copyism.
Mitch Hertz produced the record and most of it was recorded at Jay Whalley’s inner-western Sydney Pet Food Factory studio, with a couple put to hard drive by Mo Mayhem.
Thoughts and Prayers if you don’t secure a copy before they run out. - The Barman
