Neighborhood Brats – Confines Of Life LP (Taken By Surprise Records)

Wow! Right off the bat, I have to admit this band is right up my alley. Their music came to me as a bit of surprise because I felt like I received a direct slap in the face as soon I pressed a play button. Neighborhood Brats could be classified as a sort of rarity nowadays because there are not so many bands who nurture this type of sound on the contemporary music scene. To be completely honest, this is the first time I am stumbling upon this group, and I only wish I knew about their music before. Since its inception, the group released several recordings, such as No Sun No Tan, Recovery, and Claw Marks. Still, nothing compares to Confines Of Life, the album recently published on Taken By Surprise Records.

Confines Of Life represents their fourth full-length recording that carries twelve profoundly energetic numbers. Neighborhood Brats are continuously floating between hardcore punk and punk rock, but you may also notice some other elements involved as well. Their sound levitates somewhere close to Los Angeles punk rock of the eighties, eighties hardcore punk, but you can also encounter some musical acrobatics, which are resembling DC Revolution Summer, classic UK streetpunk, and pure rock’n’roll sound. The band thoroughly combines all these elements, so their compositions appear like unstoppable bone wrecking machines. Neighborhood Brats keep their tunes energetic as much as possible, so you’ll be blown away by the number of robust guitar riffs and rapid rhythmic maneuvers stacked on Confines Of Life.

For some weird reason, Confines Of Life reminds me of those perfect skateboarding samplers assembled from the early to late eighties. It seems like every composition could serve as flawless background music for skateboarding sessions, mainly because of the aggression and dynamics involved from scratch to finish. Neighborhood Brats possess all the qualities of the greats such as Agent Orange, Adolescents, TSOL, The Wipers, X, FEAR, Circle Jerks, Germs, and many others who pioneered hardcore punk. However, Neighborhood Brats occasionally speed things even more, so you’ll positively surprised about their version of eighties hardcore punk adapted for modern times. Confines Of Life is unquestionably one of the best albums of this branch I heard in a while, and you should pay attention to Neighborhood Brats and their remarkable sound. Confines Of Life comes on vinyl, but it is also available via streaming services. Head over to Taken By Surprise Records for more information about ordering.