Album Reviews

On their latest album, Authority Zero waste zero time in getting to the point as they unleash the triple threat that is opening track ”First One In The Pit”, “Reconciliation” and “Destiny And Demise”. All three tracks are short blasts of lightning-fast melodic punk rock with big hooks and Jason DeVore’s trademark rapid-fire vocal delivery.

Next up are the title track, the first ska-tinged song of the album that builds up to another killer punkrock chorus, and the mellow, whistling-enhanced “Summer Sickness”. If all ska songs were like this, I would probably appreciate the genre a lot more than I do. Unfortunately they aren’t… elsewhere on the album “Revolution Riot” fails to convince, sounding like every other ska-punk song out there. Luckily, it is sandwiched between the poppy “Bayside” and “Sevens”, two more album highlights.

The remaining songs are somewhat of a mixed bag. The ska-tinged “La Diabla” and “Creepers” are two more songs that left me feeling lukewarm, while the nostalgic “When We Ruled The World” and closing track “No Guts No Glory” are two more excellent additions to the Authority Zero songbook.

“Broadcasting To The Nations” is not a perfect album, but it offers its share of finely sculpted punkrock tunes that more than warrant its existence.

Track listing:

1. First One In The Pit
2. Reconciliation
3. Destiny And Demise
4. Broadcasting To The Nations
5. Summer Sickness
6. Bayside
7. Revolution Riot
8. Sevens
9. La Diabla
10. Creepers
11. When We Ruled The World
12. One Way Track Kid
13. No Guts No Glory