‘They are Yakuza, You are Belfast’ – or something like that anyway. One Nation Under Awed marks the somewhat delayed recording debut from one of the more interesting rock bands to emerge from alternative Ulster in a while, and what they lack in ‘awe’ they certainly make up for in furious intensity.
Rock-pop opener ‘Thackery’ wastes no time in cranking up the energy levels, but it’s one of the album’s more immediate moments, and from there they head down obscure rock alleyways. Songs like ‘Miguel’ are not the usual quiet verse/loud chorus (catchy choruses are decidedly thin on the ground) dynamic; instead the music is peppered with barely controlled bursts of aggression howling with shades of Cobain and almost comically dark lyrics dealing in death and hate.
But the impressive volume of their post-hardcore/grunge noise is tempered with subtle melody and there’s a whole host of shades and styles on view here. Yakuza’s music can be both body-lurching and brain-exercising, even if some of the riffs prove hard to digest. The attempts at mashing rhythms and moods highlight the influence of Sonic Youth, but for the most part One Nation Under Awed is still more intelligent ‘gut-rock’ than ‘art-rock’.
And despite this overall dark mood, they’re no simple hate monkeys, as evidenced by the shades of Mogwai instrumental closer ‘Murder At Murder Point’, which even goes so far as to employ a xylophone. Moody stuff.