Reaction: Vigilantibus - album review

2022-08-22 06:16:17 By : Mr. Terry Wang

Crashing out of that hotbed of talent, Airdrie, in the late 70’s (actor Ian Bannen, footballer Brian McClair – need I go on) on the crest of the first wave of punk, Reaction only actually released their debut album Accelerator in 2016. They’ve keep their foot down ever since, and this week sees the release of album number 3, Vigilantibus, proving that they, alongside The Zips, are still up there with the West of Scotland’s premier protagonists of that original wave of punk. (Interesting fact…The Zips last album Huh? and Vigilantibus both feature cover art from the talented Stephen Scott)

The current line up of Ian Carson (vocals), Joe Whyte (guitars), John Bryson (drums) and new boy Angus McPhee on bass once again prove Reaction are not a band to rest on their laurels and settle for the same old same old. Vigilantibus has them up the ante once again bringing different instruments into the mix to spice things up a bit. On their last album Keep it Weird, Keep it Wired it was the welcome addition of brass on songs such as the brilliant Welcome to Rust Town, this time we’ve got banjos and harmonica (or the moothie if yer from roon this way) to add some different textures to the music.

In my mind, the band haven’t put a foot wrong with their albums to date, but if anything they’ve raised the bar once again with this new record. I’ve literally listened to the album half a dozen times today and wouldn’t tire of an other half dozen listens. Every song sounds very much like it belongs on a Reaction album, Big Carson has an undeniably recognisable vocal, and Joe’s guitar has its familiar tone, but with each release they have switched things up, adding elements and experimenting with styles to bring a fresh new sound. That being said, they still display their original punk attitude and sneer and retain that underlying groove that has Reaction written all over it.

The album blasts off in style with The Boy Who Knows Everything, and from then on there is no looking back, every song is a winner, this is absolutely an all killer, no filler album.

Present here are a couple of quite heart-rending numbers, the tonality of Closer Than Most giving it an innately emotive feel, with harmonies that give it a both sides of the Atlantic West Coast feel from The Byrds to Teenage Fanclub whose origins are just down the road in Bellshill. It is a wonderful tribute to the late Mark Allison, with fitting references to Airdrieonians FC, it almost has me wanting to join the ranks of the Diamonds. The other song packed with with sentiment is the superb banjo fuelled Sweetheart Grips, the storytelling in Carson’s lyrics tugging at the heartstrings in a tale of love and war, the mid song break giving it an almost Spaghetti Western feel.

There is a triumvirate of songs mid album that are set to be surefire live favourites. My favourite Manic Street Preachers song has always been Stay Beautiful, possibly now one of my favourite Reaction songs is going to be Stay Pretty. It explodes into your eardrums like Eddie Cochran on steroids after being injected with testosterone and then continues to rip through you at breakneck speed. This song could take its place on any of their three albums, taking its energy from the full throttle punk of Accelerator and namechecking the last album. My old bones are already complaining as I can already start to see what’s going to happen the next time I see the band live, depending on the number of pints imbibed, I bet I look good on the dancefloor…

Newsflash! Reaction go UK82! Well, just for one song, and in doing so they out-do all the bands that currently tear the arse out of the “genre” on the current circuit. Spitfire! Hurricane! (I’ll stop with the exclamation marks now) is an utter riot from start to finish. A complete piss take, with lyrics which are directed, with a degree of exasperation, at the old punks who claim to be fans of bands like The Clash and Angelic Upstarts while totally ignoring what they stood for and spouting racist jokes and other pish. I’m sure we all know one of these “weapons”, the I’m not racist but… brigade. They’ll love this one without realising they are the target of its lyrics. Dumb fucks.

While I’m on my soap box, why the fuck are this band not on the Scotland Calling bill when we are faced next year with the dread of the turgid sub metal thrash The Exploited currently spew, the one tongue-in-cheek joke band that was never funny in the first place tosh from Anti Nowhere League (is it any wonder people hate you?), and the juvenile puerile pish from Peter & the Test Tube Babies.

Anyway, forget that shite, sandwiched between these two songs is the bands single from a year or so back, Illuminate, with its COVID/zombie video, and the band channelling US slacker rock in the vein of the magnificent Dinosaur Jr.

There are a couple of darker heavy songs, like The Whip Don’t Lighten the Load, towards the end of the album that veer more towards sludge rock, or even at points, dare I say, channelling Black Sabbath? Wake Me Up (Before You Pogo) rumbles along menacingly and seemingly suggests that we’re sleeping through the destruction of society by corrupt government, with civil unrest the only option left. Wake me up, when the rioting starts…

Track 11 (and bonus track 12) conspire to end the album in glorious style, All Aboard the Bad Trip Express is an epic journey that takes in a bit of reggae and a bit of Madness-esque 2-tone along the way, Reaction’s Night Boat to Cairo if you like, before they fully go down the wormhole and leave us with the sublime Warped Plan dub version of the Bad Trip Express. Absolute class.

What a thrill ride this album is. I can’t wait to see these songs played live so it’s just as well Reaction are playing several gigs in the near future including supporting Cult Figures in Glasgow in the 10th September, and with the Zips, Stiff Lips and The Red Lite District on the 2nd. See you down the front at that one.

All words by Neil Hodge. More writing by Neil on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Neil online at his blog thegingerquiff.

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