From as many corners of the music scene as you might be able to imagine come Codefendants and their genre defying sound, after already breaking the mould with the first album ‘This Is Crimewave’, this Punk/Hip Hop/Nu Metal, and everything else in between, band have now followed it up with something just as groundbreaking. ‘Lifers’ comes in just as diverse, if not more than, and it drags the punk music kicking and screaming into a whole new world. I’d love to spend a few paragraphs trying to explain all the ins and outs of what this album/group have brought to the table, but truth is, the music is what really matters, and its also what our readers are really wanting to hear about, not how they got together, how big they all are or might be, this is a real Punk Rock site, so lets just stay on the right track, and let you know what we really think of this album.
Not to slap you around the head with some hardcore and scare the fucking living daylights out of you, this albums starts by bleeding out and not so much apologising but admitting life will never be exactly perfect in the wonderfully real Piano led ‘Thats What You Get’. Then its drops into something hard and razor sharp, the first Hip-Hop/Metal/Punk brain masher comes in the form of ‘Rivals’ this song never tries to hold back, it why should it, its a gang thing the gang that we are all part of, how can the world ever win without us.
I have to be truthful this album takes some keeping up with, every song that comes in at you has a whole new perspective and sound to deal with, some of our Punk fans might struggle to see through all the Hip-Hop, but once you spend time listening over and over, the layers that come through are so worth it. I mean ‘Art Of Protest’ sneaks in a cello and violin into the mix with perfect effect, then ‘The Fix’ drags you back and fore between 80’s synth and straight up punk vocals, and how can you not feel pure pull together ballad that is ‘Lifers’. But what would life be if everything was easy, personally this album goes as far as to define what Punk was about from the beginning. Never stand still, always be different, boxes are made for kicking your way out of, this is a defining album when it comes to the genre of Music!!
Is this album held together musically, no, this is a collection of songs all different in sound and style, what this album does more than any other album I’ve heard in a very long time, is to bring us all together, we the music listeners, it takes what we all love, drops it into a melting pot and what comes out the other end is a kaleidoscope of feelings and emotions that we can all hold on to. The finishing song has this album all wrapped up “we know its all falling apart, these are the risks we take for art, but we don’t care, we do it our way” says ‘Ditch The Party’. The risks pay off in this album, risks should always be taken when it comes to Punk Rock and all music for that matter. Album of the year? 100% on my list!
‘Lifers’ is out now via Bottles To The Ground Records and you can grab the band’s merch here, you can investigate Codefendants further on Facebook and via their website.
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