REASON TO FIGHT / CHESTY MALONE EP REVIEW IN U.R.

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REASON TO FIGHT / CHESTY MALONE AND THE SLICE 'EM UPS EP REVIEW IN UBER ROCK ZINE

Unwrapping this prize package really brought out the music nerd in me I can tell you. This is how I remember buying my music when I first got the bug, 7" vinyl splattered blood red in a fold out sleeve plus internal sleeve notes/lyrics and the platter that matters playing at the proper speed for an E.P namely 33 and a 1/3 rpm. Not that there's anything extended play about the music when Providence Hardcore upstarts Reason To Fight and the already uber approved Chesty Malone And The Slice 'Em Ups are delivering the goods that's for sure.

By total accident I actually ended up spinning the B Side of this split E.P first and got the three tracks from gutter punks Chesty Malone And The Slice 'Em Ups to warm my ears up nicely, my headphones spewing out the band's brutal mix of B Movie sass and female fronted punk rock 'n' roll like the band's life (or death) depended on it.

It's nigh on impossible for me to listen to Chesty Malone without mentioning The Plasmatics. Front woman Jaqueline Blownaparte has that edge of menace that Wendy O had in spades, and on 'Brain That Ate New York' I'm just waiting from her partner in crime Allen Van Hoek to scream "Ichi Ni San Shi" as I'm lost in the sheer delight of the band's slutty musical charm. Rest assured though Chesty Malone And The Slice 'Em Ups are far from simply being a Plasmatics rip off; they just have that same "fuck you" attitude nailed to a post, something that so many other bands get so badly wrong.

Of the two remaining tracks 'Quest For Flesh' with its "I'm So Hungry" refrain is the perfect soundtrack to any zombie apocalypse you might be thinking of starting soon whilst 'Panic At Pt Doom' with its pumping hardcore bass intro leaves more than just a whiff of the CBGB's urinals in your nostrils. Now that's an idea for a future Slice 'Em Ups scratch and sniff sleeve if ever I heard one.

Speaking of CBGB's the A-Siders on this release Reason To Fight are a band that would have been more than at home playing there. Formed in 2001 and raised on a diet of Murphy's Law and Agnostic Front, the five piece from Providence Rhode Island certainly know their way around their brand of hardcore punk rock and lead track 'Dying Breed' is a solid enough blast to get things moving in the right direction. Dubbing themselves "working class hardcore", the band's second track 'Hard Working Hard Drinking Hardcore' is a tribute to workingmen and women worldwide and actually reminded more of Rose Tattoo than Sick Of It All or Cro-Mags, and that certainly is no bad thing.

The trouble is with just two songs on offer it's hard to get the whole Reason To Fight story and where as the format serves as an almost perfect introduction to Chesty Malone And The Slice 'Em Ups I'm just left wanting to hear more of the guys from Providence.

Anyway this 7" celebrates music just the way we love it, loud, fast and from the heart. All that is left is for you to click on the links below and get yourself a copy...NOW!!!!!!!

WWW.UNITEDRIOTRECORDS.COM