Incestuous acts often dominate small punk scenes (in this case of Chatoonga/Asheville) for quartet Basement Benders (comprising members of This Bike Is A Pipebomb, Future Virgins, Hidden Sports and Black Rainbow) who have put their collective brain-power together on debut ’Lydiad’.

’Lydiad’ is compact with a calibre of the gruff punk you’d expect from a No Idea Records act, determined to ensure your vocal chords will be inflamed after the “oi!” charge of ‘Up North’ and snatching riffs that yanks onto listeners as bassist/vocalist Terry Johnson declares, “Come tomorrow, I’ll win you over,” on the unrelenting ’Purple Days’. A power-pop underbelly sound also rises to the surface at times where the band embellish the quirky jangly moments, especially on the waning drizzle of ‘Owen Hart’.

Standout tracks are ‘Lydia’ and ’Salt On The Roads’ where an immediate org-core exuberance that swallows the whole record. The latter churns on the sombre side of nostalgia as Johnson is resentful saying, “I wish I hadn’t been so young and so wrong.”

Supergroups are packed aplenty within the crevices of the punk scene, often as a result of short lived acts – the get-up-and-do-it mentality, something that Basement Benders have done to punk excellency.

4/5

’Lydiad’ by Basement Benders is released on 13th November on No Idea Records.

Basement Benders links: Facebook|Bandcamp

Words by Aaron Akeredolu (@boymostlikelyto)