Forkbomb mirror the international nature of the DIY punk scene. The music was all recorded in Argentina with the vocals being laid down in London. What even is a forkbomb? I thought it was just a made up word in the long tradition of punks messing with language but it turns out it is a computing term—a denial-of-service attack.
This is d-beat with some of the anger of power violence, without quite accelerating to that speed. Pounding drums, grinding bass and downtuned chugging guitar back up angry shouts. If you were to chuck Voorhees, Disfear and Sedition into a cement mixer this is the sort of thing you might get.
There are six angry songs on this EP, over in six and a half minutes. They hit out at “the flames of the greedy”. There is some clear class, or economic, analysis with lines like “I don’t give a shit about your First World Problems or who you hate. / All I hear is you complain when things were handed on your plate”. “Sleep Tight” screamed out at me the horrific case of two innocent dogs killed by cops in London recently: “Gun and badge a licence to murder two best friends and lifelong companions”. The title track made me laugh, being about energy vampires to borrow a phrase from What We Do In The Shadows. Add in a song about alcohol as a means to drown emotions and this is a pretty down beat but aware take on the human condition. Don’t be one of those arseholes!
The cover is a stoic image of a traditionally attired woman from the 1940s, complete with headscarf, drinking a cup of tea amidst bomb wreckage—presumably of her own home. It could have many meanings. Take from it what you will. It made me think that other people have it worse than you and still carry on so quit your whining.
