It’s out and they are gunning for you!! The debut EP from outrageous and hilariously outspoken Aussie Hardcore Punks ‘The Owen Guns’ and it’s aptly named ‘Violating Community Standards’ because if they have something to say they’ll say it and they don’t care who gets offended and that, my friends, is what Punk is REALLY about!
Their brand of GENUINE old school Punk is crammed with warped humour where they claim to have “no respect for anything and anyone - especially themselves”,a mix of politics, humour and rants at whatever happens to be pissing off their vocalist Sean at the time.
‘Violating Community Standards’ is a short, sharp,six track offering spanning a concise ten minutes, that, from a listening perspective, couldn’t sound catchier or more exhilarating, it’s a full throttle chunk of thought provoking, argument starting, anthemic Punk Rock loveliness that epitomises, to my mind, the true meaning of Punkand it is so lyrically straightforward and to the point the lyrics will stick in your mind and you won’t be able to resist singing along.
It features the three recently released singles, two of which featured here on Punk Globe in recent Months; ‘Fuck Cyclists’ a witty tongue in cheek rant about the Lycra clad nuisances who are a source of irritation to drivers and a danger to themselves, if you drive you’ll understand the sentiment, it’s a cathartic track, ‘The Owen Guns’ get angry so you don’t have to and the rousing, attention grabbing, attitude filled anthem ‘It’sTooLate’ about an unnamed individual, whose behaviour has clearly been less than OK, we all know one of those.
The third single ‘The Ballad of Cheeto Hitler’ has taken the internet by storm, literally, within twenty four hours of its releaseand has been the inspiration for the EP Title ‘Violating Community Standards’,no doubt, given that its caused controversy with the film clip for this single was pulled from YouTube twice, banned from multiple Facebook pages and even deemed to violate Pornhub’s terms of service and I can’t help admiring ‘The Owen Guns’ for that achievement, all that aside it sounds great, driving guitars and a lyrical content that expresses Sean’s opinion on a certain “Orange coloured President” and with the added twist is Sean’s theremin work accompanying the leadwork in the second half, this album if full of surprises.
Those three tracks are joined by three new tracks;‘Rent’, bass driven with a killer second half lead burst and frustrated screams from Sean in this valid rant about getting your rent raised whilst the conditions of the property continue to fall, sound familiar, sadly when you look around you can see it’s only too common.
‘No!’ is another bass driven number with some superbly barmy, second-half “widdly” leadwork, a song inspired by THAT parasitic ”friend” who always wants something from you but is never around when you need them, lyrically hitting the nail on the head with the lines “You only talk to me when I’ve got something you need, but when I need your help you’re nowhere to be seen…….. I try to catch up but your never very keen, seems like a friend with stuff, is a friend indeed!”
The final piece, ‘Shitty Music for Shitty people (ska sucks)’ is just fifty-nine seconds long and goes from Ska to Grindcore in the first twenty seconds, where Sean seems to channels his inner Barney Greenaway and the band their inner Napalm Death, but they could just be having a dig at both and ska, either way Ilove it!It’s a short sharp chunk of insanity that sounds superb, as does the whole EP, the musicianship is excellent, Sean has got a great set of tonsils and lyrically it does what a lot of Punk fails to do, go against the grain, get controversial and fearlessly address issues…. Irrespective of the consequences!... Respect!
Available now to download on all the usual electronic platforms, stream it on Spotify, or buy here
as a limited-edition CD so get in quick if you want a copy, you won’t be disappointed, it’s an excellent listen…. Unless you are the offended type…..
