{"id":10891,"date":"2024-06-07T18:42:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T17:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=10891"},"modified":"2024-06-11T19:08:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T18:08:48","slug":"45-adapters-show-theyre-unstoppable-with-fine-debut-album-of-maximum-oi-n-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=10891","title":{"rendered":"45 Adapters show they’re Unstoppable with fine debut album of maximum Oi! ‘n’ B"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALBUM REVIEW: 45 Adapters – Unstoppable (Pirates Press Records)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Even though they’ve been around since 2009, this is the debut album by New York City ‘maximum oi! \u2019n’ b’ band 45 Adapters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But anyone who’s seen them or come across any of their EPs, singles and splits will know that it’s well worth the wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band describe their music as a truck full of Otis Redding records crashing into a truck full of Cock Sparrer records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rooted deep in classic Oi!, they also brings smart Mod sounds, a touch of ’60s soul and reggae, glam, pub rock, and even hints of classic rock to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revitalised<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Founding singer Pickabar and bassist Carlos are back with three new recruits to the band, and 45 Adapters have been revitalised, laying down the album in just two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unstoppable <\/em>kicks off with the title track, which is about rock ‘n’ roll and how it shapes our lives, and it’s followed in short order by Coming Up Empty<\/em>, about the vacuous lives we lead nowadays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I Can’t<\/em> is a pacey ska-inflected number about being unable to change the kind of person you are, and it’s confessional chorus “I know I should be different but I can’t”<\/em> is just waiting to be chanted back at them live.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"45<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Making the most of the time we have on this mortal coil seems to be the subject of 86400<\/em> (it’s the number of seconds in a day), and it’s a song in a hurry, with slashing guitars, pounding drums and a driving bassline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

45 Adapters do soulful better than most, and that’s the case with Save The Day<\/em>, where things are dialled down a little and Pickabar’s voice is given room to shine, but the driving riffs are back for the Mod-ish Guilty By Participation<\/em>, which closes side one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standout tracks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you thought the first side of Unstoppable <\/em>was good, wait until you hear side two. It starts with Refuse To Die<\/em>, one of the standout tracks on the album, and indeed of 45 Adapters’ whole career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a ska-infused love letter to the skinhead scene, but admits in particularly unblinkered fashion: “You can love reggae and still be evil\/You can love black music and hate black people\/Let\u2019s not pretend we\u2019re all innocent\/In the end, we’re drunk and violent”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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