Leftover Crack – Constructs of the State – Review

Sbam! Leftöver Crack give us this wonderful album labeled Fat Wreck Chords, a new kick in the ass for the system, which even from its cover illustrates what we’re going to approach: a queue of forlorn skeletons heading towards a concentration camp, faced by cops and businessmen. Always concerned with denouncing capitalism’s hypocrisy and injustice from a libertarian point of view (a path already followed by some members with Choking Victims in the early ’90s), they move from pure crust to ska (or both together), from melodic punk rock to unusual expressions of folk and rocksteady. Essentially, crustanarchohardcoreskapunk. And it’s an understatement. Their self-definition sounds more interesting, crack rocksteady. The new attack to capitalism is carried out through high-level and flawless technique tracks such as “Archaic Subjugation”, a very violent crust discharge which arouses our attention with a very good interweaving of voices (one male and one female as in the best anarcho punk tradition), the fierce and angry “System Fucked”, the slayerish “Slave To The Throne”, the keyboard equipped power of “The War At Home” and the festive and pissed off “¡Poliamor Fiesta Crack!”.
Ultimately, a real molotov cocktail thrown at the heart of imperialism, the effectiveness of which is supported by prominent politicized punk militants : Penny Rimbaud from Crass, Jesse Michaels from Operation Ivy, Joe Jack Talcum from Dead Milkmen, Kate Coysh from Reivers, members of punk folk Blackbird Raum (the album features a cover of their “Last Legs”) and Mischief Brew, Bouncing Souls, Dark Dark Dark, Days N Daze, Chewing On Tinfoil, Riverboat Gamblers, Rats In The Wall, Intro5pect, All Torn Up and Conquest For Death.
In conclusion, a subversive and crushing patchanka which won’t leave anyone untouched.

TRACKLIST CON VOTI:
1. Archaic Subjugation 7
2. Don’t Shoot 7.5
3. Loneliness & Heartache 7.5
4. System Fucked 7.5
5. Slave To The Throne 7.5
6. Bedbugs & Beyond 7.5
7. Corrupt Vision 7
8. Last Legs 7.5
9. The Lie Of Luck 7
10. ¡Poliamor Fiesta Crack! 8.5
11. Vicious Constructs 6.5
12. Amanecer De Los Muertos 7
13. The War At Home 8.5
14. Bonus (untitled instrumental) //
VOTO ALBUM: 8
FRASE CHIAVE:
“To live without a heart
As another migrant family is torn apart
The xenophobia’s here
But life inside a bubble that is full of fear
Will crush your soul inside
Another empty shell full of national pride
To live inside a cage
Cutting grass or washing dishes
For a slavery wage” –

Reviewed by A.E.
Translated by E.C. and J.L.