| CD REVIEW Useless ID |
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Band : Useless ID Known as one of the most successful Israeli Punk bands in the world, Useless ID was formed back in 1994 in the town of Haifa. The quartet had the sense (or rather felt the necessity) to start their own label Falafel Records, through which they released an opening demo titled Demo (Hashsub) in 1995. That same year saw the release of the band’s debut 7-inch Room Of Anger (which they themselves feel is better forgotten altogether). In 1996 the guys decided to go on tour in the US, a little something which lasted 6 months! The band had definitely struck a chord, and 1997 not only saw the band releasing their debut full-length Dead’s Not Punk (on which they brought a mix of fast Punk Rock and melodic Hardcore) on their own label, but also a split album with San Francisco’s All You Can Eaton the Farmhouse imprint, giving the band more exposure in the US. Following the first US tour, by the way, five more would follow in North-America, as well as two in Europe and one in Japan. People in Europe were starting to notice the Israeli band, and in 1998 German label Yo-Yo Records issued a split 7-inch with Spyhole (each band playing 3 songs). After having released their 1999 album Get In The Pita Bread Pit, the band got noticed by The Ataris frontman Kris Roe, who invited the band to record a split album (Let It Burn, released in 2000 on the Kung Fu label). A split 10-inch with Tagtraum on the Vitaminepillen label came earlier that same year. Singing to Kung Fu themselves, the band recorded their third album Bad Story, Happy Ending (released 2001) with Roe producing. For Useless ID, the album marked a change in musical direction, dropping their earlier hardcore influences and going for a more smooth melodic punk Rock. The second album on King Fu came in 2003 with No Vacation From The World,thistimerecorded in a co-production between the band and Angus Cooke (with additional production from No Use For A Name’s Tony Sly). Besides the band’s usual ripping Power Punk Rock songs, there were also a couple of experimental moments…and an even smoother mix. That same year saw a split issued with Man Alive on the Dying Is Deadly imprint. 2004 saw the band contributing to volume two of Fat Wreck Chords’ Rock Against Bush compilation, and release their 5th album Redemption [recorded with producer Bell Stevenson (of Descendents fame) at his The Blasting Room studio in Colorado]in December (at least in Israel and Japan; the rest of the world had to wait until June 2005…same year as saw the release of the 4-way split Attack Off the B Killers mini-album on Boomtown/ MGM, the other bands being Man Alive, Atom, and Yidcore). Back to 2004, when the band went through its last line-up changes to date when drummer Ido Blaustein left prior to the recordings of the new album. On the album drums would be done by Moshe Liberman, but it was Yonatan Harpak of Israeli punk act Punkache whom would join original members Ishay Berger (lead guitar & backing vocals) and Guy Carmel (rhythm guitar & backing vocals; would be lead singer until 2000), and Yotam Ben-Horim (joined in 1997 as bassist & backing singer, has been lead singer since 2000) prior to the actual release of the album. Also in 2004 the band contributed in the Liz Nord directed movie Jericho’s Echo, which dealt with the Hardcore and Punk Rock scene in Israel. The band released their first DVD Ratface’s Home Videos Presents Useless ID, onto which they compiled all of their available music video clip alongside some live footage and behind the scenes footage, and returned to The Blasting Room earlier in 2008 to record their 6th studio album, again with Stevenson as producer. For the release of the album the band chose to work with different labels, picking Suburban Home for the US and Canada (issued the album October 18; vinyl & CD version, the latter also including the band’s 2006 DVD as bonus), Bullion for Japan (release in late July) and Germany’s Rude Records for the European release! A single for album track “Blood Pressure” was already released in Japan during August, and on the band’s MySpace page (and in Israel) on September 8. Although “Blood Pressure” is still the only song off the album available at myspace.com/uselessid, the three other tracks poster there are really very much in the same, melodic Punk Rock, vein. For an even more extensive listening session of the band’s older material, surf to the “releases” section of the band’s own website uselessid.net (in the “media” section you’ll also find a bunch of videos)! As far as my personal appreciation of the band’s music goes, I have to say that, while I will admit to the whole thing having been done with perfect songwriting and performance…I’m nót too taken in by what I hear! The band obviously keeps things at safe, and in this business of Melodic Punk Rock, it can be dangerous to not have an own identity to single yourself from out of the impossible amount of acts who try to make a living from copying a kind of music already played by so many others, all copies of bands that came before them! Really, you can find a couple of bands in this vein in even the smallest countries all over the world! Sure, the younger generation, and the genre purists, may revel in the fact that this band is really a great addition to a collection of bands in the same vein…but to me, the only thing which makes the band special, singles them out so-to-say, is the fact that they come from Israel! 80/100 Tony. |