With 35 years into the punk rock scene, Gob has been rocking this realm pretty hard…and now he’s releasing a 10 song album along with his son Big Earn, a 16 years old Zambian/Welsh on drums and vocals and with El P on guitars, also a 16 year young lady…so out of the gates, this trio takes diversity to another level…it’s not just diverse cultural backgrounds, but also diverse generations…and this could be A.W.M.‘s secret weapon in making such a hard hitting album like “Paper Thin Authority”, which is out on all platform and is a highly recommended experience.
The songs take punk rock to another level of energy and power, it’s unrelentless and it’s punk unleashed…
The album’s songs reflect themes around how people on the internet are full of…fake images and lies…another topic that is presented is supporting minority groups and of course it wouldn’t be punk rock if it didn’t question authority figures…the music and topics are an emotional tsunami of artistic energy.
“Paper Thin Authority” starts with the 57 seconds long intro track “Lights Out” that explodes the moment you click on play…A.W.M. doesn’t waste any time, this is punk rock, it’s volatile and it happens instantly.
The album maintains the length of the songs between 2 and a half minutes and around 3 and a half minutes, so you never feel musically fatigued and filled to the brim with any song…making the replayability of this album very very high…
There are a couple of explicit tracks…4 of them to be accurate, “Orchestrated?”, “Virtues are a Pose”, “Sleep Now” and the last track “Culture Endorsed Violence”.
If you’d listened to A.W.M. before…I’m sure you’d never have suspected that these drum beats and guitar riffs comes from 16 years old musicians…their musical talents are superb…the drums are out of this world, speed, technique and polish beyond belief…guitar riffs, licks and face melting solos are absolutely soaring…along with the vocals having an extremely raw emotional power and distinct charisma…this trio is untouchable.
“Paper Thin Authority” also adds a bit of progressive punk rock into the mix…is that even a thing? If it’s not, then you’ve heard it here first, progressive punk rock was invented by A.W.M...they don’t shy from the unconventional.
This is very evident with “Creatures with the Atom Brains”…this song will give you a very clear image of this musical fusion, with its hard hitting punk parts and slowing down for these slow storytelling musical rock parts.
One of the more funky/groovy songs in there…that screams diversity is “Sleep Now”, the bass line sucks you in from the very first second and the song has a very unique mix that is undesricbable…but if I were to approximate it, I’d say groovy old school rock with a punk soul.
The album maintains the energy across all of its first 9 tracks, then it ups the ante with the last one “Culture Endorsed Violence”…this light speed ride is one of the most powerful and musical punk experiences out there…and actually it might be considered to sprinkle in some metal elements that elevates the energy level to 12!
A.W.M. which is short for “Argue With Mom” is a kind of a parody name, it doesn’t carry any real life basis…but is kind of funny actually…and they recorded the whole album in a home studio in a small utility room with all the love in the world…this home studio was called Cat Piss Studios.
A.W.M.‘s album “Paper Thin Authority” is a treasure chest for all punk lovers…and anybody that wants to jump on board that energy train and unleash a ton load of energy into the world!
We can’t wait for A.W.M.‘s upcoming releases, they are absolutely unique, raw and crazy talented…a highly recommended listen for sure.
Cheers!
