Album Review: Vice Squad - "Battle of Britain"

 

Mainstays on the British punk scene for four decades now, Vice Squad are certainly a tenacious band who are still capable of giving you an unexpected kick up the arse from time to time. With Beki Bondage still up front marshalling the troops alongside guitarist Paul Rooney who's been her foil since the band reformed in the '90s, they've put out a solid run of albums over the last two decades and Battle of Britain is another one to go with the group.

One thing that has been noticeable about Vice Squad in recent years is that their sound has definitely got a bit heavier since their near brush with fame in the early '80s and the opening duo of Ruination and I Dare To Breathe are almost GBH level heavy with its machine gun drums and scowled vocals from Beki. From hereon in, it's pretty much as you'd expect from Vice Squad with the buzzsaw guitars and feral anger but at least they're still doing this sort of music competently as the Runaways-esque When You Were Seventeen and the big Cockney Rejects style gang chant chorus of Ignored To Death make clear. And it's also clear from the lyrics of songs like Mainstream Media, How The Other Half Lives and You Can't Fool All Of The People that Vice Squad are doing anything but mellowing in their old age and all power to them. 

Essentially, Battle of Britain is nothing you won't expect from Vice Squad but sometimes there's a good argument to sticking to what you're best at and it's good to see them still raging hard against the dying of the light when many of their contemporaries in the '80s punk scene are content to simply phone it in nowadays. You can investigate further by streaming or downloading Battle of Britain from the Vice Squad Bandcamp page.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)