ALBUM REVIEW: The Domestics – East Anglian Hardcore (TNSrecords)
The Domestics are a four-piece hardcore punk band from the unlikely enclave of East Anglia, and this is their fourth studio album.
Formed in 2011, they have made a name for themselves with their fast, aggressive brand of hardcore and their incendiary live shows.
Influenced by the US, Japanese and Swedish scenes, they sing angry socio-political songs with catchy, shout-along choruses, but remain quintessentially English due to the Essex tones of vocalist James.
East Anglian Hardcore is not only the name of this album, it’s the genre they’ve become the premier exponents of, and this is 14 slices of furious hardcore.
After experimenting on recent releases such as the 11-minute No Life from a split 12in with Pizzatramp, the band return to the full-on raging hardcore which they made their name with, assaulting the senses with 14 songs in less than 18 minutes.
It opens with the almost-instrumental Konichiwa, Fuckers!, which is one of six tracks that don’t even make the one-minute mark (it’s Japanese for ‘hello’ if you were wondering) and leads straight into Burnt Out (about having to graft for a living).
I have no idea what the breakneck Haunted Victorian Pencil is about (possibly Jacob Rees-Mogg), but it’s no relation at all to the gentle piano track by A Winged Victory For The Sullen from their 2019 album The Undivided Five.
I like it, and the pummelling hardcore continues to come thick and fast with the likes of Ca$h Gag (about the rich buying silence), Falling Apart (fragile mental health) and Get Me Out (toxic relationships).
One of the standouts, Hate! Hate! Hate!, is positively pedestrian compared to everything else here. The Domestics slow the pace and you can actually make out the lyrics, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less angry.
But it’s back to fast and furious for the closing four-song salvo which starts with No Sanctuary and ends with Fuck Your Birthday, and when you realise it’s over your first instinct is to experience the whole glorious thing again. 8/10.
