Defiant State – Broken Hearts – Broken Bones

Smith & Miller Records

 

Straight out of Somerset, Kentucky comes Defiant State – an all new outfit that draws influences from Oi! and punk to hardcore and skatepunk! And although this may sound like a little mishmash of every band-member's favorite genre, the result – debut album “Broken Hearts – Broken Bones” for Berlin based Smith & Miller Records – is quite enjoyable!

 

Brought to you fast and raucous, Defiant State delivered a total of eleven track on their full-length debut, including two covers. A surprising cover of Oxblood anthem “Traitor” and all-time classic “Nations On Fire” are featured on “Broken Hearts – Broken Bones”. And although the latter is originally by Blitz (obviously), I wouldn’t be surprised if Defiant State was more influenced by The Bruisers’ version when they picked this cover. But that’s just a feeling that I have.

 

But that feeling does come to the fact that Defiant State sounds like it was indeed influenced by the likes of Oxblood and The Bruisers (and a little Slapshot), heavily drenched in a punk rock sauce (which sounds gross actually, sorry about that) to reach out to more people and you know what, it works. Sure, “Broken Hearts – Broken Bones” will never be your favorite album of the year, but with tracks like “Poison”, “Valkyrie”, “Volume”, “Pressure” and “American Bombs” this record listens away quite easy, easily allowing you to spin it two or three times in a row.

 

“Broken Hearts – Broken Bones” is out now on Smith & Miller Records and comes on either transparent yellow vinyl (100 copies) or recycled, marbled vinyl (400 copies), but all 500 copies come with the album on CD (in a carton single sleeve) and a download card.