Strong lyric style

Wednesday, February 12, 1997 - 11:00

Strong lyric style

Yes Sir, No Sir
3 Bags Full
Oracle Records, 1996

Review by Stuart Martin

Having heard the band live at the Invasion Day rally at the Aboriginal tent embassy on the lawns of Old Parliament House in Canberra, I looked forward to reviewing 3 Bags Full's latest album.

The overall feel of the album is good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first three songs are reminiscent of Black Flag and Henry Rollins' lyric style of "in your face" confrontation. The remainder of the album is more of the traditional thrash-punk sound-scapes with a strong delivery of the lyrics.

One of the weaknesses of the album is the way the songs are arranged. Songs seemed to be grouped according to how they sound, thus the guitar tricks of "Female Hero", which worked well, were immediately followed by similar guitar tricks in "War of the Worlds". It gave the impression (unfairly) that the guitarist had learnt a new technique and was over-using it. The impression of sameness could have been avoided.

The two best tracks are "Killing yourself again" and "Spiritworld". They combine the lyric style and the musicianship of the band best. I think 3 Bags Full are a great band and their albums are only going to get better.

From GLW issue 262