Action Beat - Beatings (Vinyl LP, CD)

I won't bother trying to disguise my outright enthusiasm for the Action Beat lads from Bletchley, they fucking rock! They've always rocked! They will continue to rock whether you give a shit or not. Ever since head honcho (and Fortissimo records main man) Don Mclean and his crew decided to form a massive chong smoking, Bitburger drinking, beast of a band they've been unstoppable, destroying venues, parties, work spaces, car parks and various other locations with their 'lets all play together really fucking loud and fast as often as we can' approach. For those of you unfamiliar with the bands first album 'The Noise Band from Bletchley' I advise you check it out but this is as good a starting point as any as 'Beatings' takes the sonic blueprint of it's predecessor and runs crazy wild with it. They may unashamedly mash the sound of early Sonic Youth with the best of The Ex but they do it so well and with such enthusiasm that it's entirely forgivable, especially on the strength of new killer new tracks like 'Krang' and 'Car Crash Halloween Disco'. With a (pretty much) solid line-up of seven members they've created a vast, ear-drum bending extravaganza of a record whose energy can be felt from the moment the needle is dropped. I could chunter on forever about this one but I'll leave it at... Outstanding! Worth noting that the evening i found out I was getting this job I played drums with these guys at a gig in Leeds. It was the happiest day of my life. Been pretty much downhill since then. Thanks BLETCH lads!

I have been a 'fan' of Action Beat for a number of years now, and this album has seen them firmly cement their place in the UK underground. 'Beatings' is terrifyingly brutal from start to finish. With barbed wire guitar riffs and thunderous drums, this album is nothing less than sonic shotgun to the head.