Review: The Boils “World Poison” CD

I thought this looked and sounded familiar. This is a re-released pressing of The Boils' debut full-length from 1999, and I actually like this a little better than the more recent "The Ripping Waters" EP on Thorp. Often their sound seems to get compared to street punk and oi or '82 UK punk rock or whatever, but I totally disagree with that. This is basically punk rock with a hardcore edge possessing a good mix of speedy picking, energetic arrangements with light uses of melody, etc. It's certainly not too aggressive, nor is it overly catchy, but they do write good songs. At times some of the music might hint at a little bit of a vibe more along that whole street punk/oi/'82 sound (check out "It Won't Stop", for example), but aside from the gang backup vocals the lead vocals aren't generic in that vein at all. It's just straight yelling with a little bit of a hoarse edge, so I would really only very loosely refer to the aforementioned styles in regards to most of this music. Their general style of riffing and songwriting is far more creative and energetic than much of that style. "The Price" is among the catchier tracks with a compact framework and punchy chord progressions, followed closely by "Secret War"; "Shadow of the Flames" opens with a slow and melodic guitar part that has an atypical style even for this record; "Sweatshop" has a slightly heavier breakdown happening and certainly brings in more of a hardcore vibe overall; "Times Like These" is often (but not always) slower and also has a little more of a hardcore thing happening; and "Wake Me When it's Done" is heavier and darker with a strange atmosphere that sounds almost out of place against the other material. The recording is definitely a little lacking, coming off as raw with a strange sheen to the mix (mainly exuded from the guitars), but I can live with it. A thicker and slightly more rounded out set of tones would be incredibly beneficial to the quality of these songs, as would an equally rough recording that was barely more balanced, but... I can live it, fuck it. I don't know if they remastered it or what, but it sounds okay. The artwork is all done in high contrast black and white with a little red lettering (a variation on the original cover), and for some reason rather than including lyrics the entire two-page spread of the booklet contains but one lone band photo. Go figure. I really wish this had a better recording, as I'd listen to it much more often if it did, but... screw it. These are good songs and I'm sort of surprised the band hasn't made more of a stir over the years. This material is definitely on the mildly crude side, but the energy to their songwriting is pretty damn rare to come by within this general niche.