Review: Newtown Knife Gang – Newtown Knife Gang

“Newtown Knife Gang is actually current and relevant…”

Artist Name: Newtown Knife Gang
Album Name: Newtown Knife Gang
Year: 2011
Genre: Rock/Post-Hardcore
Label: Electromode

After our interview with Newtown Knife Gang, a reader left an interesting comment. He/she said that NFG sounded exactly like 16 Stitch. If the opinion was based purely on the ‘Listen’ music video, the comment was spot-on; the song does sound like something that 16S would’ve written back in the day – and I did, too, wonder if NFG’s self-titled debut album would be the second coming of 16S.

Surprisingly, it isn’t (and thank Lemmy for that). With the exception of a few moments of 16S habitual groove lines and ‘Listen’, NFG are exploring the progressive, electronic, and post-hardcore worlds to deliver a more modern rock sound – almost an unheard of quantity in South Africa, where we seem to latch onto fads and scenes 5-10 years after they’re actually cool (yeah, I said it). In fewer words, Newtown Knife Gang is actually current and relevant to the global musical climate (even the bonus track ‘Begin & End’, which was remixed by Tripwire (Pestroy), has the fresh electronic dubstep-infused vibe, reminiscent to the remixes found on the deluxe edition of Underoath’s latest gobsmacker, Ø (Disambiguation)).

Despite the odd quieter song, such as ‘Listen’ or ‘To Be Honest’, the album is about as calm as a bomb, ready to explode with detonators like ‘Catacombs’, ‘Lotus Eater’ and ‘Sleeper’, skilfully dispersed amongst other quality tracks like ‘Words’, ‘The Shape of Things’, ‘Read Between the Lines’, and ‘Taste Goodbye’ (which features the guest vocals of Prime Circle’s Ross Learmonth).

Overall, Newtown Knife Gang leaves a lasting impression and shows that this band is the real deal. Let’s just hope Spencer Martin (vocalist) doesn’t decide to leave the band to go and play with other zoo animals, such as zebras and giraffes.

Best Tracks: ‘Words’, ‘The Shape of Things’, and ‘Read Between the Lines’

80/100

- Sergio Pereira