Review: MDC / The Restarts / Phobia / Embrace the Kill - "Human" 7-inch




The four-way split known as the Human EP is the product of a joint effort between Rodent Popsicle and Crash Assailant Records, featuring Millions of Dead Cops, the Restarts, Phobia, and Embrace the Kill.

Not surprisingly, the four songs combine for a healthy mix of dissent from bands generally known for their musical activism. Millions of Dead Cops begin Side A with “Patriot Asshole,” in which, as usual, Dave Dictor packs a mouthful into each verse: “Donut-eating, piggy-squeeling, patriotic asshole / Commie-hating, fag-bashing, homophobic asshole / Roofie-spiking, woman-scaring, date-rape fucking asshole!” London’s the Restarts contribute a bitingly pessimistic scorcher called “Dead Inside,” which takes aim at selling out to the financial industry: “How come there’s global starvation? / How come there’s wars to fight / It’s the same system you work for of greedy corporate genocide."

Side B opens with Phobia and their trademark style of anarcho-grind on arguably the best song of the split, the mid-tempo bruiser “We Burn Flags.” Chugging along to the crushing guitars, vocalist Shane proclaims, “Freedom doesn't come from a fucking cloth / But ignorant pride and lives lost / Is that what you call loyalty to the sovereign state? / You sacrifice your body only to be blown away.” Embrace the Kill plays a style of speedy, crusty hardcore and features Dave Dictor as a guest vocalist on their similarly titled track “Embrace the Kill.”

The only real complaint that could be leveled against this is that while it may have come out first, its exclamation “All tracks exclusive to this release!” is erroneous since “Patriot Asshole” also appears on MDC’s Mobocracy split with the Restarts, and “Embrace the Kill” also appears on Embrace the Kill’s Embrace the Kill. Still, the four songs on the Human EP complement each other nicely, both in their music and in terms of political rhetoric.

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