Toxic Rites: Demo cassette

When bands claim to play old-school anarchopunk these days, the music often ends up sounding like hair-spray retro postpunk. Hailing from the center of Brittany, TOXIC RITES proudly bring back the ‘’punk’’ in ‘’anarchopunk’’ and this six-song demo tape demonstrates why they are one of France’s most promising bands. TOXIC RITES are superbly and effortlessly catchy. The music itself sounds deceptively simple on the surface but the many clever hooks make the songs memorable and show that much thought was given to the details of the songwriting. The songs are mostly fast-paced, energetic and snotty UK-flavoured punk with classic spoken words parts while the slower-paced moments and the dark guitar leads confer to the whole a flowing vibrance and a sense of moodiness that is paradoxically very dynamic. If I were to find points of comparison I would say that TOXIC RITES are not unlike the Belfast anarcho sound of TOXIC WASTE and STALAG 17 with the aggression of early CONFLICT and the catchiness of PASSION KILLERS or BLOOD ROBOTS. But really, I cannot think of any contemporary band that sound close. This anarchopunk heaven. And how anthemic and tuneful do this lot get. The warm vocals are absolutely wonderful as the singer also deals in traditional Irish folk music, meaning that contrary to many, the man can actually sing and takes the songs to a whole other level. Each song is memorable, angry and beautiful at the same time. The lyrics are, of course, political and tackle issues such as mass tourism, ecocide and the commodification of our lives. You will sing along to these class tunes under the shower - when no one’s around - and you will probably sound like a goose that has fallen in an industrial press but you won’t care because TOXIC RITES are just too good not to be sung along to.