Red Handed Hailing from Eastbay, California, these high school kids play fast and pissed off hardcore punk that draws influences from bands such as Black Flag, Gang Green, Circle Jerks, and especially Poison Idea. It's always nice to see young kids appreciate the classics and paying homage.
These 7" EP consists of 6 songs with 5 of them being originals and one being a cover of Void's (Dischord Records) "My Rules". The songs are relatively short but still give you enough time to get into them, they are usually 1:30-2 minutes long. There is no shortage of pulsing bass and driving guitars. The vocals are pretty solid, definitely can tell the singer is younger. However, his voice doesn't crack like Civ's did on "Start Today". It's actually funny (to me anyway) because there's a line in the song "RH Army" that goes..."You think you got balls but they haven't dropped yet".
The lyrics are pretty decent but nothing to write home about for sure. The opening track "RH Army", which is about messing with the wrong "crew" was a bit cliche and corny if you ask me. The next track "Crashing Down" isn't exactly breaking new ground either, it's just about taking out a bullshitter. The final track on Side A "Differences" is a lot better. It's about how differences pull people apart, even friends. "Time Is Up" is a song that would've been perfect for the first wave of hardcore but no so much today. It's about venues getting shut down, which is true but not so much by the cops as it is lack of funds. I mean lets face it, it isn't 82', cops A LOT more tolerable than 20 years ago. The best song of the bunch lyrically is the song "Other Side", which is about thinking to going to the other side (outside of hardcore) for a better life but as the song states "Grass ain't greener on the other side".
No real problems to be had with this recording. The bass has plenty of presence and in most instances is louder than the guitars, which works considering hardcore punk is driven by the driving rhythms. The guitars could've been a tad louder but like I already said, it works. The drums sounded good, especially noticeable were the tom toms which had good tone. The kick and snare were pretty on point as well. The vocals had good placement, so no complaints there.
A very nice design and layout done by Alicia Eich. It has both hand drawn elements as well as some contrast stuff that was done in Photoshop. Since this is the band's first proper release and it is after all a self titled one, the red hand logo that dominates the front cover was a good choice. I like all the high contrast stuff thrown in too. Not too busy but it keeps it from being too plain. The back of the cover has the track listing with a guy getting choked by his own evil "red hand". The lyrics are printed on the inside of the sleeve, and like the front it is gloss coated. The same drawing that was on the back cover is also on the inside of the sleeve just in black and white. Good shit.
Rating: 3.5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Other Side and Crashing Down
Synopsis: This is pretty good shit, definitely nothing new but its played with conviction. If you're a fan of fast and pissed hardcore punk check out the band's myspace page to see if you dig it, and if you do support the band and label by making the purchase, I cannot stress that enough: http://www.myspace.com/redh These guys should be releasing another 7" in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled for that.