The Northern punk outfit demonstrate their frustration and distain for the current state of the UK on the new EP
With the world and the UK in particular feeling increasingly fractured due to political differences and other social issues, Roses in December have taken a dissatisfied look at the world around them and felt emboldened to create some of their most volatile and expansive work yet, making for a pissed off and dynamic group of tracks that have formed their new EP Divided and Conquered.
The EP opens with ‘Battleship Boomer’, a track with a stylish riff that wouldn’t feel out of place on an 80s Slayer album. This gives way to some of the most focussed and impassioned alternative rock that you’re likely to hear all year, honing in on the UK’s increasingly cruel migration policy with the kind of unhinged energy and chaotic, frenetic appeal that demands to be heard and paid attention to.
The slow-burning, atmospheric feel of ‘In the Channel of a Hate Crime’ is a track that gradually ramps up in intensity and energy, with a feeling of impending doom looming over you as riffs grow crunchier and more assured and things start to spiral out of control. It does a great job of offering a kind of sonic representation of how things have quicky deteriorated in the country, and its descent into a maddening wall of noise has the same kind of inevitability that feels likely to mirror real life.
There is a really fun and even funk-laden approach to ‘Sharks’, with its stylish grooves and delectable rhythms doing their best to mask the tragedy and increasingly perilous times we live in with a sound that is packed full of charm and swagger. There is a really interesting contrast that is created between the vocals and the sound, and it makes for a multi-faceted listening experience that serves the message that we might as well go down swinging and make the most of it.
An extended version of their previous single ‘Inferno’ follows, a track that explores themes like social inequality and the sheer contempt shown for the powers that be in the country and channels it into a rage that feels palpable and charged throughout. It is another track that grows increasingly frenzied and manic as it progresses, and represents the kind of attitude that we have to embody if we are going to fight for meaningful chance in the region.
The emotional climax of the album comes in the form of ‘Self-Pollution’, a track that has the kind of flowing, swirling feel that bands like Muse and Radiohead have had so much success with, winding its way at a deliberate pace to create a feeling and sense of atmosphere that articulates the slow declining sink towards the bottom that everything feels like it is heading towards. It makes for a really compelling listen and is packed full of heart and emotion, something that the band have in abundance whether crafting these punky, adrenaline-fuelled bangers or more low-key and thoughtful affairs.
The end result is an album that perfectly sums up the mood of many people in the UK as it has taken a concerning slide to the far right. Whether it is a hard-edged and relentless call for revolution or a more aghast realisation of just how hopeless and bad things have become, the band hit the nail on the head with their observations and their anger is something that a lot of people will resonate with, making for a potent and important new release that is full of character and life.
