Review: Abductee S.D. “Won’t Stand Down” CD

This all-female trio from Sweden cranks out nine tracks of hardcore/punk in a mere 14 minutes. Only one song hits the two-minute mark, and their style is pretty interesting in its blend of hardcore and punk rock. The songs tend to be pretty fast and subtly melodic, but the vocals tradeoff between outright yells and a little bit of sarcastic kind of singing, overall definitely in line with an American sort of punk rock that I'd associate more with the west coast than anything. It's not polished or overly melodic, but it's also not too terribly raw, it's right on the line, leaning towards a rugged sound, and some of the songs do hit on some catchy elements without losing their bite. "F?r Jag Luta Mig Mot Dig" kicks things off immediately with one of the faster and punchier compositions, "Diagnostisera Mig" is one of the shortest tracks and definitely hits hard with a driving rhythm and one of the most memorable song structures, "Solo Driving" is a little slower but "Hur Man Tj?nar Pengar p? Kvinnor ?r Ingen Hemlighet" brings back a moderate pace with a little more energy, and "On the Other Hand" has a Descendents sort of thing happening for me - but in an amelodic kind of way. Recording-wise the vocals are mixed a little too far out front (notably the singing, as it's a little higher and cleaner), but other than that it sounds fine. They ought to crank the bass a little more to let it really hold a place in the core of the mix, but the guitars and drums sound fine. A little thin, somewhat dry, and rough around the edges, but I think that works just fine here. The disc comes in a slim digipack sleeve with minimal artwork and basic text, but it looks fine by me. The lyrics are in English and Swedish, with song explanations printed for the Swedish tracks. The lyrics are socio-political in content and often deal with sexism and such, with other tracks dealing more specifically with capitalism and greed, personal issues like repressed anger and discontentment, etc. This is good stuff. I'd be curious to hear more from 'em at some point. Some songs are less memorable than others, but "Diagnostisera Mig" totally kicks ass!