SSD - How We Rock (1984)

SSD - How We Rock (Modern Method Records 1984)

It's strange how we change over time, both as people and our tastes. Some things we enjoy when growing up may seem objectively bad when we get older. A film like 'Saw' is a good example for 'my generation'. Me and my friends watched many of the films, and at the time, we enjoyed them. Looking back on those films now...they suck. I mean, they really, really, really suck. Badly.
However, other stuff like 'Jeepers Creepers', or for music, 'Limp Bizkit', remain enjoyable, even though I am thoroughly aware of how bad they are in the grand scheme of things. People of older generations will probably see all of the after-mentioned as terrible. I suppose that nostalgia for ya.

Whats the point of this long and seemingly random introduction? Well, when I started getting into punk it was very much 'i listen to punk and reggae and that's it, fuck rock and metal'. Looking back on it now, it seems childish and silly to think like that, but i digress.

SSD are one of 'those' bands. You know, the bands that stick out like a sore thumb due to their sound, influence, and historical presence. They're the sort of band you listen to to get you into a certain style of music, but, they are somewhat 'obscure' so you get 'cool points' for knowing about them.

SSD represent all that is mean and fucked up about punk, they are the embodiment of HARDCORE.
Fast, pissed off, mean, gruff shouty vocals, pounding drums that go from menacing plods to proto-blast beats, and frenetic pummeling bass lines. SSD may not be the first hardcore band you'll hear, but they will certainly leave one of the biggest impressions. So imagine me, been listening to punk for a few years, properly in my 'punk or nuthin' stage, and I hear SSD. Naturally, I'm blown away. But then I catch wind of these 'other' records they put out, ones that never get discussed. When I sourced out and listened to 'How We Rock' I was appalled. A total 'What the fuck is this' moment. I gave a few moments of the 1985 follow-up 'Break It Up' a listen but quickly came to the conclusion that SSD 'went metal'...oooooh, shock, horror! Needless to say, I stuck to the almighty 'The Kids Will Have Their Say' and ' Get it Away', and shunned those awful 'metal' monstrosities.

Years later I started to dig metal, I started out with various punk-metal bands like Slayer,
Bathory, and Burzum and eventually got really into it. This was coupled with playing in bands,
because in suburban UK, the closest thing to playing aggressive music is joining a metal band. Although my tastes expanded, I was always into punk the most. It wasn't until very recently that I gave those two 'metal' SSD records a spin. And what do you know? they sound ruddy good!

While 'Break It Up' is overtly more 'rock/metal', 'How we Rock' is a great transition from seminal hardcore punk to hard rockin'-vaguely metal powerhouse. What I really like is that they play 'rock' rhythms while having a total hardcore vocalist. It's strange, but it works! What is also ridiculously cool is that, while 'Break It Up' is very much 'rock' guitar straight through, 'How We Rock' balances the 'rock' with some fast punk stuff as well. It's a real transitional record for them.

While the guitars lack the 'big' sound that comes from big recording budgets, this record is still meaty. What needs to be understood is that this record is like one big guitar solo, which is probably what turned me off of it years ago. I mean seriously, even when the vocals are blurting out guttural shouts you have guitars shredding everywhere. In a way, this leads to a 'samey' sort of vibe. Especially when the guitarwork repeats various ideas and techniques throughout the songs. The elements that make this record good is the rhythm section, especially the drumming, as well as the throaty vocals. Seriously, nothing has changed since 'Get It Away'.

There are quite a few tracks that straddle the whole Major/Minor feel, a very 'metal' thing to do. Usually the rhythm guitar is playing some legit heavy hardcore while the leads are expanding on the riffs via arpeggios which highlights the Major/Minor divide.Without the constant lead guitars this would be a really decent straight-up hardcore record.

While I could weigh up the more metal tracks from the punk ones, I wont, as most of the tracks straddle the lines between both worlds anyway.

'How We Rock' has inspired me to go back and listen to those dreaded 'metal' turkeys that seminal punk bands lumped out during the mid 80s. Expect to hear more opinions on this era.

Okay, okay, admittedly that album art is revolting and totally 'metal'.
Linky Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!BYh3DZyR!JaPuOO8SmUugLifmzS-GOMUJbwnRGj8yVCbT4nOgjd8

And just for some good entertainment, here's how the record was received upon release:

Up until now SSD were one of my favorite hardcore bands. I usually enjoy when bands try to diversify their sound, however I keep asking myself "Is this the new AC/DC album?" If that doesn't make you sceptical try this one - David Spring (as he's now known) recently proclaimed at the Jerry's Kids farewell show in Boston that hardcore is dead. He also said that since SSD started the hardcore scene in Boston that they could now kill it by switching their sound to heavy metal. How egotistical! I guess maybe they think their shit doesn't stink but this album sure does. What a shame!
-Greg C. (from Task #1, March 1985)

Various thoughts that came to mind while listening: I'd like this a lot more if all the squiggly rock guitar solos were half as long / The lyrics are still good / There's "power" here, but where's the spark? / The band really likes the record / "Musicianization" (thanks, Ken Lester) will kill punk rock / This is a short album, but looong / The cover says it all (who's Alan Barile, David Spring? / This isn't fun, but would it be better at 45 RPM? / There--I did this without once saying "heavy metal."
-Tim Yohannan (from Maximum Rocknroll #18, October 1984)

Silly bastards!