‘Well, there’s no reason to fight the cause, I’d rather sleep than change the world, This depression, it seethes and burns, I dream a world that never was’ (Conditional)

The Crawlers were originally active in the second half of the 2000s, releasing a slew of EPs before heading off on hiatus after their 2009 debut album, Level The Forest.  A new EP followed in some ten years later – Planned Obsolescence – and they are now back with their second full-length, We Told You So.

The Portland trio’s sound remains rooted very much in stripped back, no nonsense 1980s’ US hardcore.  Think, perhaps, Government Warning with a healthy dash of Verbal Abuse and yeah, an affectionate nod here and there to the Portland originals, and you’ll be heading in the right direction.  The riffs come thick and fast and lock into a fiercely unrelenting synchronicity with the rhythm section, while the raspingly snarled vocals contemplate the hollow refuge of nationalism amid a society literally grinding all but the privileged into the dust.

Side One careers along with a vigorous intensity, not least on the barrelling opener, Lobby Dwellers.  The flip side then sees the band flex their shoulders just a touch more with the melody laced Flat Broken and the louchely swaggering Pain Relief, before closing on a raucous reworking of I Wanna Be An Eco-Terrorist, originally from Level The Forest.