ALBUM REVIEW: Gimp Fist – Unification
(Breakout Promotions/Sunny Bastards)
County Durham streetpunks Gimp Fist are one of my very favourite bands, and they seem to have a hit a rich vein of inspiration.
They wrote not one but two new albums during the lockdown of 2020/2021, but rather than sit on one for a couple of years, they’ve released both in the space of three months!
First the Bishop Auckland trio gave us Isolation (reviewed here), and now we have Unification, another set of anthemic stompers.
The CD was launched recently at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, though there’s no release date yet for the vinyl version due to pressing plant delays.
If Isolation was an album which expressed their frustration at being locked away, Unification is largely a celebration of things getting back to normal, and making positive changes to your life.
Most of the 15 songs here come in at under the three-minute mark, and that’s the case with opener Bent Out Of Shape, probably the angriest track, calling out people who believe everything they read, whether it’s left wing or right.
Stay True is about being yourself and not wishing you were someone else, while Flesh & Blood reminds us that we’re all the same, and that money can’t buy real happiness.
Victory, one of the standout tracks, is about the small wins in life being the most worthwhile, while attention seekers are the target of Nobody‘s Listening, another highlight.
Heart & Soul sounds like a close relative of Skinhead Heart, one of my favourite songs on Isolation, about how rock ‘n’ roll is something you experience from within, not something you feel by getting the right haircut or tattoo.
Music being like a religion is the subject of Saving Grace – something many people will identify with after two years of lockdown and not being able to go to gigs.
There’s a rare excursion into ska on Face Up, about taking responsibility for your own actions, while Never See You Again is an upbeat number about removing poisonous people from your life.
Keyboard warriors are the target of Jonny’s ire on Beat It Kid, while Without You is quite the opposite – almost a love letter to the punks and skins who have supported Gimp Fist since they began.
Prisoners Of Hope is about the life choices we make, and hoping they are the right ones, while These Boots, powered by a great bobbling bassline, is about perseverance.
Of the two albums released by Gimp Fist this year I prefer Isolation, by a whisker, but this is another fine release by a band who never seem to write a bad song. 8/10.
