Words by Nick Mee. @Nickjmee
Hailing from Rome, but sounding as if they’ve been vacationing in the flickering-neon shadows of a wrong-side-of-the-tracks Washington DC motel, hardcore foursome LAGS hark back not only to the likes of Fugazi but to furious early Eighties pacesetters like Channel 3 or a less-uniform MDC. Throw in the surface-scratching harmonies of Husker Du, some arch vocal pacing and shifting time signatures, and the hardcore of ‘Fear, Control, Mothers’ can be branded with the ‘post’ prefix. But the song’s lashing six-string, growling rhythmic rumble, throaty melodic roar and overall Hurricane Jaoquin levels of energy mark it most clearly as A-grade punk rock, and LAGS as the first new band of their ilk to get psyched about in some time.
LAGS’ album ‘Pilot’ is out on 6 November on To Lose La Track Records