The Arteries - Dead Sea

Dead Sea is the second full length from the hardest working band in Swansea, The Arteries . In between playing shows with Fucked Up, The Bronx and Propaghandi, studying for degrees, recording and releasing splits with The Cut Ups, Bangers and others, they found time to record the follow up to their (awesome) debut Blood, Sweat And Beers .

If you have followed the band over the last few years, you'll be familiar with their Minor Threat (with more drinking and partying) meets AC/DC worship. Dead Sea is full of what you have come to expect from The Arteries ; big riffs, fast drums and songs about girls, friendship and finding your way in life.

Anyone who has picked up a copy of the split 7” with The Cut Ups will already know Shitty Band and Mutual Friends, (arguably two of their best songs) that have rightfully been included on this album. Without a shadow of a doubt, Acoustic Associations is destined to become a new fan favourite. It’s pretty much the best pop song that I’ve heard in the last few years, with it’s lyrics about falling in love with someone at a show, and it’s hooks that Paramore would kill for. So what? I like Paramore . Big deal, wanna fight about it?

But, it’s the other stuff on Dead Sea that is more surprising. I hate to use the word, but it’s more of a mature sound for the band without dropping any of the fun or urgency of their earlier material. Rather than starting every song flat out, speeding through it at the same pace and ending in a sweaty heap at the end (which isn’t a bad thing), you can tell that a lot more focus has been given to dynamics and atmosphere.

Doing The Rounds starts off quietly before letting rip with a massive riff that wouldn’t sound too out of place coming through a wall of speakers in a stadium rock gig. Hey Mister treads more of a post-hardcore path and is pretty reminiscent of Fugazi, giving Miles the opportunity to take a breather from busting a gut with his vocals.

There are a few more surprises on the album in the shape of New Noose and Sick. The tone of the songs is quite a departure from the more lighthearted songs about getting in the van, partying and hanging out with your friends. Even though these songs are more grown up, they’re still dripping with passion and conviction and it’s not hard to imagine singing along to every word in a sweaty venue near you soon.

Basically, this album rocks in a big way and you could do a lot worse than picking up a copy. If Blood, Sweat and Beers was Minor Threat, Dead Sea is Fugazi. This record is the sound of a band that has put the time and the effort in and knows exactly where it’s going with it’s sound.

You can pick up a CD/Digital copy of the album through Specialist Subject Records and if you preorder the CD, you get the Mp3s straight away. Pretty sweet. If vinyl is your weapon of choice, rumour has it that Paper + Plastick will be giving the album a vinyl release early next year.

Whether you buy the album or not, make sure to check out The Arteries in a town near you soon. No excuses.