It’s to Australia and a bit of New York that we look for a bit of culture. Well, not really as Deez Nuts treat us to their 16 little ditties. The delicacies include “Unfuckwithable”, “What We Eat Don’t Make You Shit” (do I detect a double entendre there?) and of course “Go Fuck Yourself”. No, “Bout It” isn’t going to win an award for culture or be a tourist guide. I kind of got where they were coming from. I went to Australia once. Unlike that TV programme, where people consider going down under, they’re more likely to go stir crazy as houses are miles apart, places are shut at night and it’s like living death. A bit like Stevenage, then. People are full of rubbish and life’s full of constraints. Welcome to the contemptuous hardcore world of Deez Nuts.
Is this serious social commentary? I doubt it. Actually it’s a good laugh. In fact they’ve been having a laugh for 8 years, standing up with their fist-pumping, free-thinking New York style hardcore and giving people “anthems to scream to while they get on with their lives”.
There a definite punkish quality about these songs. For some reason I expected grind but there’s none of that. It’s streetwise hardcore punk. This is more of a controlled riot than anarchy. The pace is more measured than I might have expected. There’s plenty of energy and adrenaline but above all the riffs are growly and magnetic. “Shot after Shot” is fast, furious and has a rawness. The tracks may be short but the construction is good, and there are surprises, here a nice drum-driven ending. There’s originality within the hardcore heritage. That controlled riot continues. Catchiness abounds. The instrumentals are good throughout but I love the deep guitar sound. The gang is in action with the vocalist in the lead. You may gather there’s plenty of aggression here. “Keep On” demonstrates typical defiance. It’s held together by the thrilling rhythm. Very New York in style, the lyrics are distinguishable. Warning signs should be erected. It slows down and builds up in true hardcore style. Tough guys are at work here but I don’t feel threatened. I feel part of this. Hardcore rants, deep drum and guitar lines and a gang of angry men could lead to the accusation of repetitiveness in part but it flows. “Go Fuck Yourself” unsurprisingly has a tough urban feel. Such realism, which in truth didn’t set my blood racing, is followed by a bit of rock and roll. The guitar work is compelling. Did he say “your dick in your jaws”? This anthemic vitriol. “What We Eat Don’t Make YOU Shit” is hard-hitting, short and to the point. The jungle drums now signal “Streets are Watching”. There’s melody and structure. Both abound on this album. It all heads off onto a wild romp but it’s brief and the deep and thunderous sub-structure remains. This is all that you might expect: it’s tough, urban, fast, thrilling and perhaps surprisingly melodic.
After a quick advert for Deez Nuts “killing it” in the form of “Public Service Announcement” we hit the most persuasive and anthemic hardcore of all in the form of “Unfuckwithable”. This adjective, which to the best of my knowledge, isn’t in the Oxford English Dictionary, fits nicely into the lyrics. By the end it will be part of your vocabulary. This is the anthem and the message of the album: don’t mess with us but enjoy our music. It’s sing-a-long time. “We are unfuckwithable”. It is repeated and resounds through my head. I don’t know where “I.D.K.W.Y.T.Y.A.B.I.K.W.D.D.G.A.F.A.Y.” went to. It only last four seconds. The public service assault is then back on. “Don’t you apologise for shit”, we’re told. I love that constantly deep tone and powerful riffage. It’s impressively contemptuous. After all this, there are a few moments of acoustic delicacy but not for long. “Band of Brothers” is indeed the brothers at war chanting amid pumping riffs, vitriol and anger from the vocalist, forward-driving punk-hardcore and a catchy song: all that’s good about this album, in fact.
“Bout it” is all too short but it’s full of humour, melody, defiance, anger and anthemic hardcore. And just remember its key message: “we’re unfuckwithable”. It could come in handy.
(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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