Album Review: One Trax Minds – “Spit, Debts and Tears”

One Trax Minds is a punk band from central Italy who play a style of punk rock that would fit well on the Hellcat Records roster. Their music at times reminds you of Rancid and at others is reminiscent of early Dropkick Murphys, but to say that they actually sound like either of those bands would be an incorrect statement. One Trax Minds are their own band and, at least on this EP (“Spit, Debts & Tears”), they know how to put together some really solid tunes.

The first three songs on this EP fall into the category of what I call street punk. The first one, “Take another”, has a little bit of a Clash feel to it. It’s similar to something that would be found on the Clash’s debut record. “The Number Two (In Love)” and “Bye Bye Enemy”, track 2 and 3, are the ones where the Rancid comparison comes into play. Vocally, the One Trax Minds singer actually sounds like a non-slurring version of Tim Armstrong (at least on these two songs) and the music in “Bye Bye Enemy” sounds like it was influenced by Rancid’s “And Out Comes The Wolves” album.

“Abruzzo Bull” (Abruzzo is a region in Italy) is where a possible comparison to Social Distortion would come into play. (They list Social Distortion as an influence). The song starts out with a cowpunk guitar sound and has a girl adding harmony before the songs speed up into a full on punk riot.

The last song, listed as a bonus track is called “Someone Before You”. This one features a guest appearance by Daniel O’Day, vocalist and main songwriter of the River City Rebels, and has a bit of a Celtic feel to it. In truth, the influence is probably from the Gypsy culture that is prevalent in parts of Italy but it sounds kinda Celtic to me.

These last two songs are my favorites on this release. I like it when a band mixes their sound up a bit from time to time, but I really enjoyed the album in its entirety – there isn’t a bad song in this bunch. If you are a fan of any of the other bands that I mentioned during this review, or a fan of no frills, straight up punk rock do yourself a favor and give these guys a listen, you might find something you like. You can check out the songs here before you buy them.

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