Review by Lee Barber, The Underground Venue Manager, Co-Producer of The Honey Box and Honey Box Hive project lead
It doesn’t take long for the noise to erupt from Big Problem’s debut. Four seconds to be precise. ‘Oh God I fucking hate driving.’ Opening lyrics to suit the explosive yet carefully curated introduction to a band defying their label of debutants.
Northwich-come-Manchester based Big Problem are quickly carving a name for themselves, and it’s easy to see why with this three-track release, blending shades of hardcore and post punk to create an exciting concoction destined to get those mosh pits crawling.
Opening track Big Beat wastes no time with its catchy riff and off the cuff lyrics, dripping into second track Rowing seamlessly, where lyrics full of contradiction meet punchy melodies and a hard-hitting backdrop. The three-piece band have certainly wasted no time in throwing out simple demo’s to see how they get on, this release hits from the off and is relentless in its energy, and those subtle inspirations of Drug Church and Fugazi echo with promise.
Finale track Traction Slips has all the makings of a timeless, generational anthem, and is quite frankly a song far beyond the truth of it being the last song on a band’s debut release, which was also self-recorded, produced by John Hinde, and mastered by Grant Berry at Fader Mastering. A special mention goes to CHIO on the artwork.
For those music lovers of the Staffordshire and Cheshire regions, these guys are certainly for fans of Christian Music, Mercury, Smother and University, comfortably crossing genre as so many local bands are doing effortlessly of late.
To catch Big Problem live in the Staffordshire area, keep those beady eyes peeled for a recently announced music festival at a local venue near you… and give Morbid Place a listen here:
