True Liberty has been around long enough to call themselves punk veterans. These punk-rockers from Richmond, Virginia started back in 2005. They have previously released ‘This is War’ (2007), ‘Brotherhood’ (2008) and ‘City of The One’ (2010). They announced their latest release ‘Marked for Life’ (2012) on Thumper Punk Records, who state “It stands firmly on the broad shoulders of their past releases, positively blasting classic punk and oi! sounds in True Liberty’s unique and uncompromising style. Firmly committed, spiritually driven, pedal-to-the-metal music overflowing with hooks, chords and thunder.” It was produced by True Liberty and Mike Corvin, with digital mastering by Stephen Edgerton (Descendents/All).
True Liberty promote themselves as a sober punk band that writes, performs and shares this message with fans throughout the world, “We’re not perfect, we’ve made mistakes but we have a responsibility to share our faith, our love, our passion for our Saviour, Jesus Christ, with those around us. We press on despite struggles and attacks. We don’t get any fame, or money, or awards for what we do, but to us it’s about playing the music we love and using it to share Jesus with others.” It is recommended for fans of The Business, The Clash, The Ramones and Rancid.
With cranked-up guitar, primal drumming and full-throated bass, True Liberty serves up a slab of old-school punk. Mike “Liberty” Collawn, Aaron “Liberty” Wells and Tom “Liberty” Schoppe have kept it deafeningly loud and chock-full of anthems.
They start off with the barely restrained fury of ‘Who’s To Blame’ with its no holds barred lyrics “Perversion rampant in the church / war is cited as Gods work / Hope it seems far out of reach / when for personal gain the lairs preach”. Then you are in for a thorough kicking as they follow on with ‘Fist Fight In The Dirt’.
Most of the tracks are full-throttle rampages, which mean that songs rarely breach the two minute mark. This is a not because they have pathologically low attention spans, but rather a feature of punk scene where you make your point in as few words as possible. One of my favourites is “I know that hell, would love to have my family / It wants my marriage and my children too / Not on my watch, not with God on my side / I’m standing up… HELL NO! to you”.
One of the longer tracks is ‘Broken Dream’ which is about being stuck in a dead-end job and beaten down by life, but trying not to give in to despair. After all the bluster, there is the acoustic ‘Storm’ with melodic vocals. “A storm on the horizon, will test me to the core / A storm, there’s no denying, but my anchor is the Lord / A storm on the horizon, will test me to the core / A storm’s on the horizon, but it will pass / and see me better than before.”
Rating: 9/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
Tracklist:
1. Who’s To Blame
2. Fist Fight In The Dirt
3. You Lose
4. Hell No
5. Danger Close
6. Anti
7. Broken Dream
8. Marked For Life
9. Stand United
10. Put It To Death
11. Hold Your Ground
12. Mad At The World
13. Overcome
14. 714
15. Take Up Your Cross
16. Good As Gold
17. Storm
Band members:
Mike Liberty: Vocals / Guitar
Aaron Liberty: Drums / Vocals
Tom Liberty: Bass
Record Label: Thumper Punk Records, 2012
Weblinks: Facebook / Myspace / Website