SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CODEFENDANTS – LIFERS

CODEFENDANTS
LIFERS
THIS IS CRIME WAVE/REGIME MUSIC GROUP

Trying to define the essence of a Codefendants release is akin to trying to nail jelly to a wall. They’re openly ‘genre-fluid,” and they seem to have set out to make each song as incongruous with the previous one as possible. That continues here.

Off the top of my head, the album leaps from a surprisingly delicate piano-led opener (“What You Get”) to a bass-led rap romp (“Rivals”) through elements of electronica and dance (“The Fix”) and reaching near its end on a Latin groove (“The Weather Men”) with several other stops in between. Heck, there’s even signs of a Chuck Berry-style groove on the explanatory “Crime Wave” as well, something I didn’t fully expect from a band consisting of three of punk’s lifers.

SPILL FEATURE: OUR ONLY EXPECTATIONS ARE TO PLEASE OURSELVES, RIGHT? – A CONVERSATION WITH CESCHI RAMOS OF CODEFENDANTS

But that’s definitely the point. The Codefendants bring in the best of rap, emo, punk, electronica and even nu-metal at times, with the only through-line providing some connective tissue being the biting, real lyrics on real-life issues and some emotionally wrought vocals that carry the audience connection heft.

I’m not sure what I listened to, but I know I enjoyed it. It’s hard to get bored with this, and even in the occasions where there were things I didn’t like (“Bad Business” being my personal nadir), there was always likely to be something else completely different to bring me back up again. There’s truly no one like this out there right now, so here’s to them getting in more trouble – and soon.

Artist Links

Inlay Photo Credit: Joe Altmann