With a UK tour coming up and a growing reputation in Europe, The Decline have decided to reissue on vinyl their 2011 Sophomore album, Are You Gonna Eat That? Having played with bands such as The Descendants, AntiFlag and Lagwagon over the years as well as headlining many shows in their native Australia, the band are setting around taking over the UK. What a great time for it too with the landscape of rock music in the UK showing a serious punk resurgence (Creeper, Milk Teeth) so what better time to come over and join in on the fun.
If you have heard of The Decline before, you know exactly what you’re going to get and that is straight up, no questions asked skate punk anthems. Opening with Crash Course In Emotional English the band waste no time letting everyone know exactly that with frenetic drums and catchy choruses made for fun mosh pits and arm over shoulder sing alongs.
This doesn’t stop throughout the rest of the album either as album tracks such as $hit Yeah and Rooftops not straying from the simply skate punk track whatsoever. Any to put it simply, why should it? The Decline have clearly mastered the art of this stuff and if it’s what they love doing than they should never feel the need to change it and I’m certain most of their fanbase feel the same way too.
This album has everything you would want from a record of it’s type with all the fun and silliness you would need with songs such as The Financial Equivalent Of A Rectal Exam being over before you could even finish typing out it’s hilariously ridiculous title and all the nostalgia you would want from this kinda stuff with songs such as 66b and Addison adding a bit more of an emotional Blink-182 feel to the mix.
Where the record really stands out though is on the second track titled Shower Time In The Slammer. Opening with a seriously awesome riff you would expect from Sum 41, we are treated to a masterclass in skate punk music here with seriously catchy vocal melodies in both the verse and the chorus as well as a brilliantly crafted guitar solo. This song shows that there is real songwriting craft to punk music and that The Decline have the craft nailed down tight.
All in all, this album excels at being exactly what it is meant to be. Flash back 10 years ago and this would not sound out of place on any of the great Tony Hawks playstation games of days gone by. The record itself will leave the listener feeling the nostalgia as old days but also offers a modern perspective at points on the genre showing everyone again that punk music is on the way back.
8/10 – Really fun, high energy skate punk music
Highlight – Shower Time In The Slammer