ALBUM REVIEW: LoGoZ – Welcome To The Freakshow (self-released)
LoGoZ are a melodic punk rock ‘n’ roll band from Ashington in Northumberland, and this is their second full-length album.
The four-piece were formed in 2012 by frontman Peesh (vocals & guitar), and he’s joined by his son Kieran on bass, Paul on guitar and Carlos on drums.
United by a love of The Wildhearts, Rancid, Ramones and Green Day to name but a few, they’re one of the hardest working bands around, yet have a slim back catalogue – just one album (2018’s Psycho Radio) and a couple of fine EPs (Disgraceland and Digital Detox).
That’s probably because barely a weekend goes by when they’re not gigging at least once somewhere in the North East (or increasingly further afield), which is evidenced by their growing following.
Welcome To The Freakshow was written during the pandemic, and sums up the emotions, frustrations and expectations of living through those two bleak years when gigs were cancelled.
LoGoZ don’t mess about, and fairly blaze through 12 tracks in 30 minutes, beginning with a spoken word intro by Peesh’s daughter Evie, against a nightmarish carnival music background.
Freakshow, which gets things underway in earnest, is classic LoGoZ, all slashing guitars, pummelling drums and a locked-in bassline, with Peesh spitting lyrics in rapid-fire fashion.
As ever there’s plenty of melody and musicianship in their songs, but this album of ballsy pop-punk has a much darker feel than usual.
Frankenstein appears to be about accepting people for what they are, as Peesh urges: “I just want what’s mine/Be my Frankenstein/Never be what you are not.“
Don’t Waste Your Hate sees Kieran get his first co-writing credit, and I hope it’s the first of many for the four-stringer, who I’ve seen grow from a shy teenager on stage into a much more confident young man.
Scars & Bruises reminds me of prime Green Day, while Dead End Year is LoGoZ’s verdict on the months spent wasted in lockdown. There’s more of that machine-gun-like vocal delivery on Distorted, which boasts a killer riff that sounds like a close relative of Rocket From The Crypt’s Hanging On A Rope.
Tropical Apocalypse has a real dystopian vibe to it as Peesh warns “You’d better start running, the bombs are coming,” and the theme is repeated on Karmageddon, which seems to suggest the human race will get what’s coming to it for our carelessness with the planet. 8/10.
- Welcome To The Freakshow is available on CD or digitally from the LoGoZ Bandcamp page HERE, https://logozuk.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-to-the-freakshow or from the band at their gigs.
