So you seek an old-school misadventure? With the panting of percussions and race of guitars? Well, The Decline is your escapade. As the 4th album of the punk-rock, Flash Gordon Ramsay Street, this 17-piece collection will be out on August 30. A dynamic work, ranging from 5-second songs to connotational titles, this will remind you of the foolish teenage years in your life.

The first track was Bullet With Buffalo Wings. A weird title. But the unannounced tumbling of drums stampeded all the way and set the roads aflame. It was street punk. A lyrical foreword which used bold and shadowed colours. The guitar needed no introductory remarks, it was capable of presenting itself without effort.

Brovine was guitar scales. A poetic violence. This was a different sort of rebellion. It’s impulsive. An urgent demand for freedom. Which was followed by It Was Always You. Another fast-paced emotion we sense here. It was like a race to the nearest skatepark. It reminded me of clumsy 13-15 year-olds, being sincere with their selves but awkward.

There was a bipolar melody in War. It contained the personality of a lovestruck goner. Scattered among the lines were curses and pleas. It was an emotion-laden, somewhat self-centered cry. Verge Collection spoke of anxiety. The guitar, although momentary had its own argument. It was like running away from someone. The escape plan B. The out-of-breath mockery you shout to your enemies.

Summerbucht was the first five-second piece. It was like a quick break. A simple sentence to the next song, Changing My Shoes. This reminded me of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Or somewhere like My Chemical Romance. Your heartbeat attempts to sync with the rock elements. And the guitarwork were little phrases of a slipshod living. Although it ended with a sad tone.

Smashed Avo was another weird title. Lasting for about 40-seconds. It was like half a thought. Postponed for sometime else. However, Real Again came next. This was, in my opinion, a straightforward and personal transformation. Some details sang of self-growth. It was dynamic. The inconsistent increase and decrease of a young lad towards maturity.

High Extinction had a simple message. To profess the errors of life. This track was continuous. The entwining of guitar and vocals were just. Further in the album was I’m Not Alright. There were mini riffs all over the place. It was the kind of song which attacks without thinking through an act. It was how you painfully seek for something. A dosage of peace? An ounce of freedom, perhaps?

Don’t Jump A Giftshark In The Mouth had defeated all the weirder titles so far. Nevertheless, the guitarring blended into a darker version. Again came the profanities, although it seemed to present a valid point.

Another short-lived track was Baha De Verano. Simple lines. Simple five seconds. Then we got Get Hyrule Save Zelda, in reference to a Japanese Nintendo game. It struck me as a cool yet arrogant, boastful yet vulnerable type of character. It sounded like a crowd of complains. An unpredictability. With a cannot-be-reasoned-with attitude. Perhaps it was about saving the Princess Zelda after all.

The More You Know could be more than a 35-second track. I would have sorely preferred it by the longer version. It was just this happy, frolic-like guitar with piano touches. Within this limited amount of time, it takes you by the hand and runs short on breath but smiling.

Your Funeral was a grim-faced private talk. The plucking attempts to comfort you. But no, this is dead serious. And for the seventeenth track, Josh. The guitar this time rips through the wavelengths of the air. It was nostalgic. There was a sense of the past in this final song. Like a childhood promise kept with a little sadness. There was a presence of a piano. In simple terms, a beautiful sorrow that tugs at the recesses of your chest.

The Decline after all this, was a graffiti. I see simply this colourful and reckless patch of wall which to others may seem a poor vandalism and to others an example of art. It was a manic race on sneakers through the suburb at sundown. I found it satisfying that although they come from the same theme, they do not sound exactly alike. This album is the troublesome adolescence you will never forget. This is the temporary state of being free.

7/10

Review by Estefan Malgret.

Check Out The Decline at a live show throughout October;