
The cover and the title of Spike Polite & Sewage’s new EP, Punk Not Dead, should tell you all about what to expect from this band. And yes, this straight-ahead punk concept has been both used and misused, but at least the listeners have no trouble recognizing what it is they are about to hear, whether they latch on to the original four-song version of this EP(at less than four minutes) or its ‘extended’ 10-song version that runs for the ‘elongated’ 17 minutes or so.
Yet this NYC quartet takes the punk concept of short, sharp shock to new levels. Oh, and they try and do make a social statement(s) with the same brevity and intensity.
All that should be no surprise when you take a closer look at the names of band members led by Spike Polite (Reagan Youth, Cheetah Chrome) and Michelle Shocked (yes, that one!).
It all comes down to whether you are still willing to opt for the original, genuine punk rock concept or not, but this conglomerate does it so well that they basically give you no choice but to re-live the music of your recent (or not so recent) youth.
Spike Polite & Sewage make us all come up to one inevitable conclusion here – ‘punk not dead.’
