‘No, it doesn’t have to be like this, You know there’s another way, There has gotta be more to life, Than just making it through the day’ (Another Way)

From the Hillsborough Tragedy to the Grenfell Fire, the attitude of the British state to its people has been laid bare.  Negligence and systemic disdain for working class communities sowed the seeds for the original disasters, while blatant lies, disinformation, and institutional obstruction defined the subsequent responses.  In neither instance has justice been done, the legal system protecting those same interests that empower it.

Challenging this barely concealed contempt is what fuels the debut album from The Social.  All For One, One For All is hardcore punk stripped to its inner essence – the conviction is clear, the anger searingly raw.  The Liverpool trio, who include Tom Pimlott of The Flex and Violent Reaction on vocals / guitar, harness these primal instincts to unleash an uncompromising onslaught.

The muscular riffage and pounding martial rhythms set the groundwork, the quicksilver solos and boisterous sing-along choruses inject a contagious vigour.  As they sweep from the bruising On The Grift and the savage takedown of The Sun newspaper, The Scum, to the uproarious Another Way and the seething The Company, this barrelling intensity doesn’t diminish for one moment.

Meanwhile, the guttural vocals build connections between our divisive economic system, the political grifters seeking to exploit the resultant disaffection by scapegoating the marginalised, colonial legacies, and the need for communities to organise to reshape their own futures.  And amid the confrontational barrage, there is also a welcome lacing of black humour including an ode to Everton’s infamous Dogs Of War midfield from the mid-1990s.