Riskee And The Ridicule - 'Body Bag Your Scene' Album Review

Track List:

1. Accelerate

2. Kaboom!

3. Our Time

4. Body Bag Your Scene

5. Black, White & Grey

6. In The Dark We Dwell

7. Sell Out

8. Milwall Brick, Glasgow Kiss

9. Sex

10. Cut Your Teeth

11. For Old Times Sake

12. D.I.Y.

Sometimes an album should come with a warning, a warning that once you start listening to it you'll be hooked.

"Body Bag Your Scene" is one of those albums.

Riskee and the Ridicule are a band that have done things the old fashioned way, learning their craft playing their heart out in venues of all sizes, putting their soul onto every performance. There are probably a fair amount of stages that are still stained with the band's blood, sweat and tears, something that's helped generate the buzz that follows these guys around.

The album opens with the band chanting away before laying down the thick riff of 'Accelerate', the band's manifesto and statement of intent. It jabs away like a wiry prize fighter, intent on causing some serious damage. Pair that up with the major exception earworm and single 'Kaboom!' and you know the band are setting up for a serious fight.

'Our Time' lures you in with a gentle melody before the song kicks up several gears with Scott, the band's vocalist, switching between rapping and singing in a manner that reminds me of the often missed System Of A Down. Again, the crunching, juddering riff of the title track brings the SOAD memories back. They're not a clone but definitely sneak elements from them before chucking them into the RATR pot. 'Black, White & Grey' bounces along like a stone skimmed across a lake before sucking you into it's own private mosh pit in it's instrumental bridge. The band are tight, there's no wasted energy or space in the songs, it's almost like they're going to snap your bones any second now.

'In The Dark We Dwell' is a particular highlight. A cautionary tale of drugs that's devoid of cheese, the band focus on the relief that narcotics bring while they slowly erode your soul, they mix their various musical influences with Dub, Grime and Hardcore all jostling each other control the music. It shouldn't work but it does, bridge and chorus melodies lift the song as the verse vocals act as extra rhythm and percussion to the song, I'll happily keep skipping back to this song as I listen to the album, it's just so bittersweet.

'Sell Out' sees them rip everything back to a basic Punk approach, the sell outs being more the people who turn their back on their roots, selling it off for a couple of quid, almost like they're ashamed of where they came from. 'Milwall Brick, Glasgow Kiss' sees the lyrics come thick and fast before it's schizophrenic chorus swoons over, a polar opposite to the rest of the song. Gender politics and their double standards form the backbone of 'Sex' while it's followed by the hardcore crush of 'Cut Your Teeth', a suckerpunch to the senses that wouldn't be out of place on a Frank Carter album.

'For Old Times Sake' talks of nostalgia and legacy, where revisiting the past is sometimes coloured by the rose coloured spectacles we look back with, the lyrics waltzing around the verses, forgetting how tough those times really were. There's a subtle nod to toxic nature of masculinity in the song's last verse as we remember that perhaps the times weren't that good after all. Closer 'D.I.Y.' is wistful while still remaining upbeat, it's chorus of "D.I.Y. 'til I die" is ready made to be chanted out by crowds at the end of their set, a perfect way to close both album and gigs.

Riskee and the Ridicule need that one thing that is going to push them onward to bigger things and "Body Bag Your Scene" could be the album that takes them there. The band deserve to be doing the festival circuit playing your Glastonbury and Leeds/Reading events or warming the stage for Frank Turner and his Sleeping Souls on a big US tour. They're a safe bet to spend your hard earned cash on, you'll be finding it hard to stop listening to album on repeat.