‘Each new variant, of innovation, Data driven pestilence, our ruination’ (Death To The Valley)

Oust return in fervently belligerent form on this their debut full-length, Rather Be A Fuck Up.  The band, whose members hail from The Netherlands and Italy, began life as a pretty straight-up d-beat band, but their sound began to evolve in a more distinctive direction on their 2021 EP, Never Trust A Politician.  It is a trend that is satisfyingly continued here.  This is not to suggest experimentalism, as this is hardcore distilled to its core essentials, but rather a willingness to draw upon influences from across the hardcore punk spectrum and to sharpen them into something savagely singular.

Each element of the band is intrinsic to this evolution.  The rhythm section delivers a bedrock of swaggering intensity, while the guitar unleashes wave upon wave of fiercely taut riffage.  The barrage is completed by utterly rabid, rasping vocals that drip with contempt for the distorted priorities of society as they tackle the rise of the far right (Rather Be A Fuck Up Than A Fascist), surveillance capitalism (Death To The Valley), worker exploitation (Die For The Economy), and the insidious myths of the ‘wellness’ industry (Körperkultur).

The feral ferocity comes to a visceral crescendo on the closer Our Anger Is Appropriate.  A reworking of a song by the Bahamian musician and artist Exuma (Tony McKay) that called for spiritual vengeance on the those who enslaved his ancestors, it brings proceedings to an uncompromising climax.