TECH-9 - Nine Lives

Tech-9 - Nine Lives

19 songs
48:27 minutes
***** ***
I Scream

Bandpage

Dutch hardcore punk rockers Tech-9 are not the world’s busiest artists, considering that Nine Lives is only their fifth CD in twenty-five years. They are excused though, as their debut Scars On The Inside was only released in 1996.

Their new CD is called Nine Lives, and just like the proverbial cat, Tech-9 seem to have nine lives too and don’t let themselves get down, as you can already hear on the opener To Live Is To Die, where the band finds a perfect balance between hardcore and punk rock. Tech-9 play their music in a rather simple but always honest way. Some tracks sport oi part that invite to sing along, but don’t expect anything revolutionary on this album. But does a band need after a quarter century of existence to reinvent itself? Even if their formula is a little repetitive, their songs entertain without an exception. The short running time – rarely is a song longer than two and a half minutes – probably helps.

The first twelve tracks are new songs that have specifically been written for the new album, with Show Some (Dodge) Balls even being a humorous tribute to the yearly dodge ball tournament in their hometown Eindhoven. A newly recorded version of the band’s first song ever, Survival, leads to six cover versions of the usual classics from Blondie, The Saints, Dead Boys, Generation X, Ramones and Sex Pistols.

The Dutch veterans can pride themselves in having released a solid piece of hardcore punk music that doesn’t demand too much attention from their audience but is catchy enough to be taken in by the first take. And I am certain that after a few beers, it tastes even better.

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