ALBUM REVIEW: Filthy Militia – High Ground (Pookout Records)
Filthy Militia are a seven-piece ska-punk band formed in North London in 2016, and this is their debut album.
They have released two EPs, 2018’s Innocent Until Proven Filthy and 2022’s Coping Mechanism, but High Ground consists of nine brand new tracks which blend punk, dub, skacore and metal.
It’s produced, mixed and mastered by Oz Craggs (Call Me Malcolm, Riskee & The Ridicule, Dog Rotten), who’s made a fine job of making sure all the instruments can be heard.
It’s 40+ minutes of top-notch music which should appeal to fans of bands like Random Hand, Jaya The Cat, The Skints and Faintest Idea, and they sound like they’ll be enormous fun live.
High Ground expands on their trademark sound, with lots of choppy, upstroke guitar and a lively brass section consisting of trumpet, trombone and sax. They’ve also added a second guitar to their guitar-bass-drums set-up, and sound all the better for it.
Things kick off with slow-burner 24-7, before Making Myself Clear lifts the tempo, with the jaunty brass section coming into its own.
Lead single I Don’t Know You But I Love You is an insanely catchy celebration of making new friends at gigs. I’m sure we can all identify as Frosty sings: “I don’t know you but I love you, I’m sure we’re the best of friends, Let’s go sink a pint or two, before I forget your name again.”
Anywhere Here Is Fine starts off as a dub song, and morphs into a completely different beast, complete with post-hardcore breakdown, while Splitting Hairs takes it easy through the verses before exploding into a real moshpit igniter for the choruses.
Filthy Militia do the mid-song change of pace well; the flamenco-tinged When The Party’s Over’s lollops along nicely before a spirited denouement, while Liability, which sounds like Spunge, is a super slice of ska-core, and a standout track.
The excellent Never, also a single, is another high octane stomper, with a great sax solo, and things are brought to an epic close with six-minute title track High Ground.
Filthy Militia are Frosty on vox, guitarist Tom, bassist Leo, saxophonist Eve, trombonist Mike, trumpeter Nat and drummer Remi, and they’re ready to make their mark on bigger stages if this hugely enjoyable album is anything to go by. 8/10.
