Labasheeda is an Irish village which can loosely be translated as 'a bed of silk'.
There is not too much luxury or repose to be found in the band of the same name who specialise in hard-edged punk-hardcore.
They formed in Amsterdam in 2004 by Saskia van der Giessen, who , as well as singing, plays guitar and violin.
This is their second album after their debut Charity Box (2006) and marks an expansion of their line-up from a trio to a five-piece for this album.
The opening track - Hackney - encapsulates their sound with bass heavy riffs , emotionally ambivalent vocals and occasional violin refrains. This leads seamlessly into Bad News For Batman with some more demented rockabilly beats.
A feature of all the tracks is the stop-start shifts in tempo, a technique that makes their sound resemble bands like Furgazi or Sonic Youth.
A broadly pissed-off attitude is more important that wordplay although on two of the slower building tracks the lyrics are easier to distinguish. "There's some liars in this room" Saskia drawls sullenly in Headquarter and broods over "staring at the infinite" in The Crash Within Without You .
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The emphasis throughout is on communicating a raw punk energy with tracks like Winter and Indulgent dispensing with any subtleties to focus on a punchy, direct style. My First Choice, one of the best tracks, draws out the grinding riffs to over six minutes.
The no frills mood doesn't always maintain the interest but wake-up calls like the full throttle blast of Way Out is guaranteed to keep listeners on their toes and the overall impression is that is a band who know exactly where they're heading.
Labasheeda's Website
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