Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Punk attitude wrapped up in an anarchistic heart and maintained by the natural urge to speak out against the powers of indifference, ignorance and inadequacy, that is what is needed now, not fine speeches of a gilded future and only stopping short of quoting some euphemistic utopian dream, but a duty to tell the truth, to let people understand for themselves that the mess we have allowed to fill up the sewers beneath our feet, has not only backed up and spilling out the country’s toilets, but is on the streets and the children yet to come are playing in it with our blessing.
An anarchistic heart might sound troublesome in an age where we are wary of being seen as having a different view on the world, however you can still be radical and have a conscious, you can see the lies that are meant too placate the majority and keep the illusion together; and you burn it all down, not out of spite or malice, but out of the strength to kick back which has been brought on by initial fear to which the media weave into the narrative and the political pygmies we have embraced, the establishment, the so-called estates, to whom the idea of being the Purveyors of Mayhem seems like the finest compliment they will receive.
We are the brink of history, and being made an historic memory, we are living in the time of megalomania as if it has been made a virtue, and it needs to stop, we need more radicalism in art, the last bastion of human truth, and for certain Crush Limbo is an artist to supply such accurate berated words to the false idols and weak spined suits.
Through tracks such as the album openers of Play-Doh Monarch, Despot and the Damage Done, the excellent Narcissistic Prima Donna, Toxicity Testosterone, Fertilze the Future and the album title track, Purveyors of Mayhem, Crush Limbo doesn’t just ask us to face our fear of the great estates, but to openly oppose the misprints, the misinformation and the mind boggling excuses they use to cover up the ills because they believe we are children who cannot face the truth, the reality that we are swimming, drowning, in the brown stuff and asking for more.
Crush Limbo brings together a group of songs that could be seen as the final kick back against the likes of the current ego driven maniacs we have found ourselves underneath, and whilst we are sure to find somewhere down the line another conman, another narcissist to whom snake oil is but foundation for the face, will come along and attempt to fool us, we must then remember to not be afraid to be radical and do something not attempted before, to listen to the truth of our heart and kick them before they do us down.
An album that owes itself a moment of grace, a punk expression maybe, revolutionary certainly, a sign of accepting we are better than what we have, a music driven dream to which Crush Limbo urges you to remember and utilise in the future.
Ian D. Hall