Album Reviews

- by Nick Metherell

Victory Kid have been putting out digital singles and EPs for a few years, now Austrian label SBÄM records have cherry picked 14 of these songs for their first physical release; Discernation.  These guys incorporate a range of styles into their music, on the punk spectrum there’s horn infused ska punk, pop-punk à la MxPx and early Fall Out Boy, plus more straight up skate punk.  There’s even some white boy rap on the verses of Doobs, interspersed with a grungey/rock chorus.  It’s quite a schizophrenic record to listen to as it jumps styles quite frequently, that could be a good thing or bad thing depending on your preference.  When it’s good, it's really good (Prayer, My World, Morning Wood & Blank Space - Taylor Swift cover) but there are moments when they veer too far into pop rock, the 5 minutes plus of Leaving New York for example, which hold it back from being an outstanding release.  Fair play to the guys, they know their way around their instruments and play the music they want and it’s by no means a bad record.  I’d definitely recommend you give it a listen to see what you make of it and I’ll be keeping an eye out for future releases to see how their sound develops.