CD:Got Your Back Artist: Pour Habit Label: Fat Wreck Chords Rating: 4/5 Best Song: Heads Of State Reviewer: Cole Faulkner

Since first signing with Fat Wreck Chords and reissuing their debut, Suiticide, three years ago, Compton based five-piece Pour Habit has made quite a name for themselves – a reality they have yet to fully digest.  In fact, the band describes recording their sophomore effort with Fat Mike in the studio as surreal, gushing like giddy school girls during interviews about sharing the stage with Strung Out and NOFX.  Based on their modesty, you’d think they lucked out and won the lottery.  But after listening to the band’s sophomore release, Got Your Back, it’s clear they’ve earned every stage appearance.

Got Your Back packs in thirteen explosive punk metal tracks that pick up and expand on where Suiticide left off.  The basic formula remains untouched, but Pour Habit exudes greater confidence than ever.  Guitarists Mat Hawks and Eric Walsh plug away at lightening speed, their fingers running wild during solos with inhuman precision.  “Matter Of Opinion” and “Greenway” serve as early examples of head spinning momentum rivaling Strung Out’s metal mastery. 

Chuck Green’s vocals still resemble those of Dexter Holland (The Offspring) on speed, whizzing by in his pitchy, murderous scream.  Remarkably, the combination is every bit as melodic as it is intense.  Every few seconds feature some form of harmony or backing “woahs” embellishing layers of instrumental complexity.  Occasionally they speed off the rails as per “For All Who Have Given And Lost,” running ragged with crunchier riffs and borderline barking.

Then there’s Pour Habit’s signature reggae plug.  Stuffed right down Got Your Back’s centre, the band serves up “Conscience Mind Of Revelation” and “Party.”  The first plays out as a pseudo acoustic piece featuring a heavy upstroke and shallow percussion, with a few light drum rolls.  The song’s steady pace and deep bass just begs to be played on sunny patios and outdoor lounges alike.  The later serves as a stripped down, obligatory party song with the chorus “gonna go party it up, at North Long Beach East 69th, 365” as they spout off drunken scenarios and embarrassing decisions.  It’s probably the weakest song on the record due to the overdone topic.  Thankfully the beat carries this misstep through without significant damage.

That being said, lyrics stand as a point of interest, with the band challenging social norms and making political statements without censor.  “Heads Of State” powers through smart lines about abusive leaders, describing “a nation run by heads of state/who don’t eat off the same plate” in “a land of hypocrisy.”  Similarly, “Matter Of Opinion” engages in a dialogue about “racist bigotry” in contemporary society, highlighting today’s reality in light of a history of concentration camps and ethnic cleansing.  My personal favourite, “Tomahawk,” explores the role of human intent in determining war machines like the helicopter that the track shares its name with.  “Takes a strong man to use a tomahawk against me/Takes a wise man to use a tomahawk not for peace/Taking many men to use a tomahawk on me/Takes a blind man to use a tomahawk just for peace,” shouts Green in their insightful chorus that catches Pour Habit in their element. 

In short, Got Your Back solidifies Pour Habit as a punk metal powerhouse.  I don’t get too much time to listen to my second love, power-metal, so Pour Habit’s combination is a marriage of convenience.  But as stressed above, it’s also so much more.  Pour Habit commands a tremendous talent while embarking on a world of fun – I couldn’t think of a more deserving (or appropriate) group of guys to hit the road with their label mate heroes.