Transplants - In a Warzone

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 15 / 7 / 2013

---

Being the serious music writer as I am, I am not swayed by the words and opinions of others. I am, however, also intrinsically a complete liar, and as such had read a few reviews of ‘In A Warzone’ before it landed on my own doorstep to add my two pennies worth to the fold. The consensus was, to be honest, rubbish. As such I gingerly put the disc on my CD player in the hope that the others were wrong. After all I’m a pretty big Rancid fan, to the point where I have words penned by Tim Armstrong himself inked on my arm, (and in some bizarre coincidence the Transplants’ debut album sound-tracked the first time I went “under the needle”). I was severely hoping I wouldn’t be totally disappointed, and I wasn’t for the vast majority of on ‘In a Warzone’ . The band, however, seem to have stripped things back to a much more straightforward punk sound as opposed to their genre-crossing previous albums. . Two songs on here that delve into hip-hop sounds come in the form of ‘It’s a Problem’ and ‘Something Different’ , the latter which could easily be as big a hit as the band’s most widely recognised song ‘Diamonds and Guns’. Its summer soul and 90’s hip-hop vibe are coupled with a swagger and feel that wouldn’t be out of place in early 90’s Manchester. Other than those very obvious jaunts into other musical territory I find ‘In A Warzone’ a very punk rock album. It could be taken either way I suppose but a lot of the material sounds like it could sit quite easily amongst Rancid’s 2009 album ‘Let The Dominoes Fall’, which isn’t a band thing if you ask me. The title track and ‘See It to Believe It’ would give my theory some backing, while ‘Back To You’ has a hint off ‘Red Hot Moon’ from 2003’s ‘Indestructible’. Part of this Rancid-alike-sound might be down to drummer Travis Barker’s playing, which feels like it is generally quite a toned-down version of what the Blink 182 sticks man normally puts out. I actually quite like this as rather than sounding like someone from another planet you find the pleasures hidden in there, particularly around 1:59 into the opening track. These moments of utter genius just feel that extra bit special situated within the mildly refined style which helps give the band as a whole a more together sound. All in all, I was more than pleasantly not disappointed by this. I’m not quite sure what people expect from the Transplants, but ‘In A Warzone’ sounds like a band completely at ease with themselves doing what all punks should do – playing music they dig. I’m not sure it will change the world or stand out as a classic, but I don’t think Rancid fans or Transplants fans would be disappointed by this.

Track Listing:-

1 In A Warzone
2 See It To Believe It
3 Back To You
4 Come Around
5 Something's Different
6 Any Of Them
7 Silence
8 All Over Again
9 It's A Problem
10 Completely Detach
11 Gravestones And Burial Plots
12 Exit The Wasteland

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/TransplantsOfficial
http://thetransplants.com/
https://twitter.com/TransplantsBand
https://plus.google.com/+thetransplants/posts
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTransplantsBand

Label Links:-

http://epitaph.com/
https://www.facebook.com/epitaphrecords
http://epitaphrecords.tumblr.com/
http://www.kingsroadmerch.com/epitaph-records/region/
https://twitter.com/epitaphrecords
https://www.youtube.com/epitaph

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg