7 Day Conspiracy/Sak-Less Jack - Fishcocks

Released: 2011

Label: from Kill Your Own Zine

Genre: Punk

TL;DR: Alright 6/10

‘Fishcocks is a fun split which everybody should enjoy listening to, but it rarely offers anything new to the genre of punk.’

Fishcocks is the split release from punk bands 7 Day Conspiracy and Sak-Less Jack. It boasts a fun approach to fast punk tracks, complete with The Offspring-style guitars and relatively accessible vocals. 7DC offer some inviting riffs with Sum 41 could be proud of and some good basslines here and there. Whereas SLJ some punk elements which delve into hardcore roots too, the drums in particular appear to be rocking a massive fishcock right now.

7DC’s side of things kick off the album with the track Too Late In The Day, which sounds like something which could have appeared on any Offspring album of the 90s. The barely-dirty guitar riffs are featured throughout the rest of 7DC’s effort, which allows somebody new to punk to safely enter the genre. It’s basically punk for beginners, in the same vein as The Offspring, Sum 41, Blink-182; it’s completely enjoyable, but nowhere near punk such as OFF! Or Poor Lily, for example.

Sak-Less Jack offer a sound which is ballsier and harder than 7DC’s, and is a better example of what punk truly sounds that. From the swift listen of Thought Police, to the intense pounding drums on 2 + 2 = 5, it is definitely the strongest half of the split. The distorted guitars are no match for the ferocious drum parts, and the vocals from the frontman have to be strained to the brink of breaking just to be heard over them. Lottery Of Life features a fantastic snippet of a bassline, performed very fast and sounding completely insane, it suits the track immensely, possibly my favourite track out of the entire tracklisting.

Fishcocks is a fun split which everybody should enjoy listening to, but it rarely offers anything new to the genre of punk. While most of the tracks here are very solid, they’re not entirely original and a lot of the elements used seem to have been borrowed from established artists.