Michael Hann 

Off!: Wasted Years review – more of the same, in a good way, from punk supergroup

Keith Morris and co's blasting hardcore revivalism is not attempting anything new, but they've got riffs, tunes and smarts to spare, writes Michael Hann
  
  

The members of OFF! outside their studio
A whumph against your sternum … Off! Photograph: Steve Appleford Photograph: Steve Appleford/PR

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. On their third collection, the veteran SoCal hardcore revivalists continue to do exactly what they've already done. Keith Morris rages against society in the tone of a man who could get furious at a bed of blooming daffodils; Dimitri Coats hammers the riffs furiously, and the rhythm section of Steven McDonald and Mario Rubalcaba power the whole thing along. If you're looking for evidence of stylistic development, you'll be disappointed, though there's the occasional slow mid-song break, and on Hypnotized they stretch out to a positively epic two minutes and 15 seconds. Hardcore is as much about its physical impact as its melodies, but Off! deliver both – you can feel the whumph against your sternum from the likes of All I Can Grab, but, equally, the riff sells you on a repeat listening, and that's the case across all 16 tracks here.

 

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