Backlash - No Reason Why Not (1995)

Sooooooo... Today sucks...

I was posting this last night when I got distracted, but who knew today would call for such awesome heavy hitters as Self Assured and Why I'm Mad...

Yeah, without getting into what made my day suck, lets just say sometimes too many things happen at once, and youre left with, well.. nothing... but theres always hardcore.

Hardcore. My bastion in a crazy world... my island. My impenetrable fucking fortress of "who gives a fuck". Blast these tunes loudly and watch as you either A) boil your sadness and aggravation into a vapor, or B) melt away said negativities, throw your hat in the air, point your fucking finger and yell "GO!" and feel the tides change. Hardcore usually does the trick either way.

Sooo. Backlash n' shit... They were from durty jerz and well, for some reason I remember kids making fun of these guys, but either I'm the chump or they were just posin' hard, because regardless of what you think Backlash kicked my ass and many a time I could be found pumping this stuff out of my tinny Honda speakers, racing down whatever road, most likely shouting the lyrics and tossing finger points out the window like it was nobodies business.

Today I find myself at my desk, completely done with work today and feeling a number of stresses that have halted my forward motion for the day, so I toss this bad ass on, thinking I need to type some stuff up about it, and well, how am I doing so far? Kind of all over the place if you ask me. Come to think of it, this Backlash record is kind of all over the place. I mean that in a good way, because there is a common thread through all the songs, both in lyrics and in tunes. In fact, each song has a specific section with a specific groove that I feel was this bands trademark. Lots of fast parts leading up to awesome old school breakdowns ala Judge, Leeway, Gorilla Biscuits and the like. Backlash clearly werent re-inventing the wheel, but thats only because the wheel is damn good as it is. What I mean to say is, if youve got the chops, than keep writing old school hardcore, because there is something vital in it that no other music touches on.

"Mad is feeling that I get
Mad is a feeling I cant control yet
When I see these things that get on my nerves
Mad is a feeling that no one deserves"