Reckless Upstarts – Glory EP

Contra Records / Insurgence Records

 

After 2017’s demo and 2018’s split 7” with the Streetlight Saints, Ontario’s Reckless Upstarts are now standing on their own pair of Doc’s with “Glory” – their ‘official’ debut EP for Insurgence Records (Canada) and Contra Records (Europe)! Is it as glorious as the title suggests? Let’s find out!

 

The “Glory” EP contains a total of four, all new songs - and just moments into opening track “Dying For A Living Wage” you can feel that vibe of late 90’s/early 00’s streetpunk Reckless Upstarts’ sound is influenced by. Bands like The Pinkerton Thugs, Bombshell Rocks, The Vigilantes and One Man Army come to mind one way or another, thanks to the crispy – yet clear – vocals and the variation of catchy melodies guitarist duo Curtis and Matt (Bad Assets) cranks out.

 

Despite that I like the songs in general, in particular the EP’s title-track, the production is a bit off to me – especially if you compare it to the Reckless Upstarts’ earlier work, such as the aforementioned split EP, or their contribution to the “Northern Aggression” compilation. It doesn’t sound as dirty and the back-up vocals don’t sound as heavy as on their previous transgressions. Unfortunately, as it gave the band’s sound a real power boost in the past.

 

But as said, that could be just me – or it could have been the whole intention in the first place. Either way, if you liked that whole era of streetpunk released by GMM, TKO, Flat etc..., there is a good chance that you’ll like Reckless Upstarts latest EP as well!