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CITIZINE REVIEW

Action S/T (Punkcore, 2005) Greg’s warrior drums keep the Action moving on this record. The guitar, bass, and rebel yell are tight and all but the high-hat marching beat and snare drum fill man makes this sound highly energizing. Listen to this record for the pure frenzy, seemingly unstoppable (except by pause button) for a good 35 minutes. Action was formed in October 2002, and claim ‘80s English and Scandinavian hardcore as a primarily influence. The guys in the Action are themselves experts in the arts of “punk genre.” Most of the group was in an Oi! punk band together that fell apart only to reform to play in the present “hardcore” style. My favorite track is probably the change of pace “Blame It On the Youth” toward the end of the record, but it would be nothing without high-speed rockers “Submission” and “Rise.” “Die for your government, die for your god, There’s no return from the Suicide Squad!” The huge blasts of sound at the beginning are welcomed and must be played at top suitable volume, but listeners of advancing age and decreased inner eardrum tolerance who listen to this entire record straight may get “hardcored out to the max,” a very undesirable condition.

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FLEX YOUR HEAD ZINE

Canadian hardcore punk group Action strike the right chords on its self-titled 12-track disc, meshing the ragged simplicity of punk rock with the hard hitting angst of hardcore to create a solid release of aggressive anthems for the disenchanted. Tracks with the rollicking drums like "Man's Law" fit nicely with speedy rhythms that dominate the collection, especially on the passionately shrieked "Won't Be A Victim". Plowing a direct punk rock route, Action's freight train velocity and nonstop vitriolic offerings are far from groundbreaking but are purposeful and overall very effective. Be prepared to destroy everything around you after popping this disc in.

"CENTERFUSE.NET" DEC 2004 "Whoa! This is some solid ass punk fucking rock. Usually I expect Punk Core to deliver total cartoon punk, complete with charged hair and forced British accents. Instead, Action delivers some fast nasty hardcore punk that reminds me of early eighties heavyweights like Battalion of Saints, Discharge, and the Varukers. Andy's snarl brings to mind George Anthony; and much of the music leads me to believe that Action could possibly sound better than Battalion of Saints, heroin or not. I'm not trying to make Action sound like a BATS rip-off; they're certainly not riding anyone's coat-tails. Sure, the lyrics beat the subject of war to death, but it's as timely now as it was in the 80's. Add in an Xtract cover and you've got yourself one of the best straight up punk rock LPs of 2004. I'm kicking myself in the ass right now for not heading up to Hogtown to see these guys when they opened for World Burns to Death last month. Canada has produced some of the best bands in hardcore punk recently and Action certainly fills the shoes that our friendly neighbor to the north set out. Check them out at www.actionpunks.com "

EQUALIZING DISTORT "Action s/t from Equalizing Distort " This is the first offical release from these Scarberian rejects. They recorded an awesome demo and this first full length is even more full in sound while still being punk as fuck. Too often bands sacrifice energy for production. Not the case here. Action still draw for the base of their sound from early British hardcore. And yet the sound seems to be fueled by contemporary US hardcore. Although the myriad of old school punk influences found in the photos of this release I hear the Action drawing on a chaotic Disorder type song structure. They combine that distorted mess with the melody of bands like Infa Riot. But the blend of melody and distortion is driven through that Texas sound that is being heard in bands like Spazm 151 and Kegcharge. This combination makes for a very wreckless sounding brand of hardcore that reminds me of the heyday of the Portland peacepunk scene when bands like Resist reigned supreme."

CAUSTIC TRUTHS "ACTION "S/T PUNKCORE Lying somewhere between street punk and furious discore, Action blast through the songs on this album with no regard for those hurt in the process. Power chord driven riffs clash with gruff vocals, while the drums lay down the beats that will make the circle pits start to move. There?s just something about Dischord influenced back, that makes you remember what is so great about punk rock music. Forget about Drive-Thru, this is real punk. "

PUNKNEWS.ORG "Aggressive street punk/hardcore in the vein of older Unseen, Action's self-titled debut is a quick bout of the aforementioned for those in need of half an hour of the somewhat throwback style. Though I'd imagine this would work a lot better live with the gang-led choruses of tracks like "Man's Law," "Rise," and "Warzone," the Punkcore outfit is still very competent in the musicianship department, and as far as street punk goes, writes political lyrics to the standards you'd expect, maybe even a bit higher ("Fighting the capitalists / fighting the west / putting your faith to the test / just a pawn, just a whore / in a fictitious holy war"). The band keeps the fast-paced tempo consistent and the shouting vocals never relent, nor do its basic chord progressions underlying the sound. However, they also clean up a lot of the really agitating things I normally face with the genre, too. The vocals are rough yet upbeat and never intolerable, and the guitarists throw in a lot of choice licks and the drummer some nice fills ("Submission," "No One Knows," "Warzone"). Even their biggest problem doesn't seem like one as you're going through it, that is, listening to the near five-minute long third track, near-epic for the introductory section to a record like this. So although we've heard it all before, and plenty of it, Action is a good addition to the group, and definitely has the potential to probably throw some new things in in the future as moments here show. Worth a listen."

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