Belgium may not be in the best situation these days with an unstable government and tension between the North and South but one aspect of the country never changes: the quality of its punk rock. As I have said many times before, it seems that new Belgian bands continue to pop up every few months. State of Mine is a prime example, as they continue to evolve in their sound, even as a young band. Like the majority of Belgian bands, they have that raw sound, snotty vocals, and humour in their songs. They are also comprised of members who are entrenched in the scene, so they know precisely what buttons to push.
“Accelerate” is the band’s latest effort and is a completely DIY-recorded album, a fact that the band does want to be made known. The last we heard from these guys was in the form of a split CD with The Octopussy’s (also from Belgium). You can expect the same formula from the band’s sound this time ’round, although Jo puts more emphasis on his snotty vocals with this new set of songs. His message touches more on everyday issues while continuing to hold on to the sense of humour from their earlier work. And vocally, he also reminds me of Mark from Guttermouth in terms of delivery and effort. In other words, there is no hiding what the central message is in each song.
The songs on “Accelerate!” are all in the range of two minutes or less, which brings out sort of party punk, “go go go” feeling: A.D.D. people take notice. One of State of Mine’s most captivating qualities is the bass lines, which are all heard very well throughout the album. Unfortunately this is an aspect lacking in most releases these days. Adriaan (who doubles as the band’s drummer and the album’s producer) did a good job getting the bass out of the cellar so to speak. And the maestro in this case, Jero, shreds on bass (ala AWS) in songs like “Eye Candy”, “Mc Know It All”, “666 Club SOJO”, just to name a few.
If you enjoy skate punk similar to the 90’s Swedish scene or bands like Turn It Red, and Belvedere, then there’s no way that you shouldn’t buy this album. And by checking these guys, out you will learn more about the glorious Belgian music scene, which is like a party 24/7. There are no losers with this deal.