ALBUM REVIEW: Antagonizers ATL – Kings (Pirates Press Records)
Antagonizers ATL are a street-punk/rock ‘n’ roll band from Atlanta, Georgia, who look set to take the scene by the scruff of the neck and give it a good old kick up the arse.
Slowly, over the course of half a dozen singles and a mixed bag of a debut album, they have found their sound, and have come up with a hugely impressive second album.
A couple of line-up changes means the original quartet has expanded to a six-piece, and this record is a significant step up which should see their standing soar.
Where their 2016 debut Working Class Street Punk dabbled in Giuda-type bootboy rock ‘n’ roll and even a touch of reggae, Kings is 10 tracks of all-killer, no-filler anthemic music which should cement their place as one of the scene’s very best bands.
The first inkling of how good this record was going to be was when a new song, Marching On, was included on a four-band split 7in on Pirates Press Records in 2019, when they shared the vinyl with fellow Americans Noi!se and Spanish oi! bands Rude Pride and Crim.
Then one of the album’s standout tracks, Black Clouds, was released as a promo flexi single last year, and it’s a great slice of upbeat street-punk, which acted as a great appetiser for the album.
Black Clouds was also featured on the For Family And Flag Vol 1 compilation (reviewed here), and when I heard A Way Of Life, their contribution to the Pirates Press Records comp Oi! This Is Streetpunk 2020 (reviewed here), I began to really sit up and take notice of Antagonizers ATL, and I doubt I was alone.
A Way Of Life isn’t even on the album, and when they can leave a track that good off it, you know it’s a very special record indeed.
I love the positivity running through this record, in songs like Hold On Hold Strong, whose opening riff recalls legendary oi! band The 4 Skins, and the chorus of “we’re not going anywhere, you’ll never be alone” is a welcome clarion call in these troubled times. And the fact it features Monty of skinhead legends Symarip is the icing on the cake.
Title track Kings, with its earworm chorus of “when you see us coming, you better start running, we might just come for you” reminds me of no less a band than street-punk legends Cock Sparrer.
Us Against The World is no relation to the Sparrer song of the same name, but it does carry a similar message of standing together, strong and proud, in the face of everything the world can throw at you.
Have I found a worthy heir to the much-missed Street Dogs as my favourite US street-punk band? They’re certainly up there, rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Drowns and The Old Firm Casuals, and I’d love to see them visit the UK once this sodding pandemic is done.
Don’t just take my word for it. Have a listen on Antagonizers ATL’s Bandcamp page, and then treat yourself to one of the vinyl variants from Pirates Press HERE, or download it HERE. 9/10.
