Fixit Kid - Fixit Kid Three (Fight Me)

Fixit Kid have been one of those bands with a long tenure yet sporadic surges of productivity. For about the last year though the fire in their respective bellies has given them more momentum than ever; the exhibit of such statement is their punishing third full-length, er, 'Fixit Kid Three'.

Their more pacey and punky fodder has the most inevitable potential of grabbing the unexpectant listener by the short and curlies. Opener and first single 'Release The Dogs' is a prime example - it's perfect fight music, beer in hand, fist in air. Had the album started with a darker, sludgier track like 'Pork' the album would sound a lot less fun on initial impact. Tracks like 'My Voice Inside Now Has A Face' are equally of a balls-grabbing nature but suggest a more insular approach to listening, should anyone wish for a head-on insight into the Fixit's lyrical vortex.

Influences fly in like spitfires from all angles, from Converge to elements of Shellac, you even get a whiff of the oldies garage punk going back to the Sonics, to whom have understandably championed a mutual affection for grittiness. In numbers like 'The Ballad Of George A. Romero' and the concise ender 'Dredge The Lake' the low strung bass keeps the ride nice and bumpy with ample swathes of wailing guitar feedback wherever spatially possible. This is all captured with a massive sense of abandon and brutality, transferred into a prize wrecking ball. The aforementioned track (and second single, for the record) acts a kind of encore to wrap up the album in a final suckerpunch stylee, as the penultimate slowburner of 'The Great Flood' would leave the overall cadence in disarray otherwise.

That said, not for a moment does the album lose its viscous or unhinged approach, even in the arguably melodic excerpts. Particular attention should be drawn to two aspects of '...Three'. Firstly, the raw edge it's been given production wise; as to suit the atmosphere of a live experience where the crowd is close, no stage, amps are not miked up but turned up and the energy is ballin'. Secondly, the skits that bridge the tracks together which has been done virtually every time. They range from gritty sample footage of gypsy jazz buskers to what unsurprisingly sounds like an in-between-song verbal humiliation by frontman Mat Fixit, at one of their heavily sweat-inducing shows. Oh, and there's the token air raid siren in there too. Bravo chaps.