Artist: LUVDUMP
Title: The Fall of Icarus
Release: 10″ EP / Digital
Year: 2022
Label: Pumpkin Records
You’d be forgiven for assuming by the excellent cover art that LUVDUMP would be some filthy downtuned noisy crust or d-beat. In the opening strains of this release, they start off with a heavy build up and some discordant noises before launching into shouty hardcore propelled by hectic drums. However, after this opening the fast paced gruff singing is laid over melodic hardcore, reminiscent of Propagandhi and continues for the following five tracks with a ska break in “Viscous Games”. LUVDUMP employ tempo changes, dropouts, build ups and quiet subdued interludes to great effect. The final song “Burnt By The Sun” drops down into a summery ska tune with a dub reggae inspired vibe.
LUVDUMP’s message is very much one of resistance and propagandising, spreading the word. “Who watches the watchers?”, they shout about American imperialism and warmongering. They recognise the connection between various struggles: “Liberate the animals to liberate ourselves”. On “Burnt By The Sun”, they celebrate the counter cultural life in a display of solidarity and hope: “They can chop down the trees but what they forget is that we are seeds… No matter how hard they try they’ll never bring us down”. As they say themselves, LUVDUMP are “a mix of fast melodic punk, skacore, reggae and dub with political and socially conscious lyrics”.
Without even looking I knew straight away LUVDUMP were from Manchester. Whilst I didn’t spend too long looking, there wasn’t much instantly available about who is in the band but I could hear sonic clues: some of the voices, the style of melodic hardcore and in particular the skanky sounds similar to early Autonomads and the dubby sounds akin to Black Star Dub Collective.
Originally available as a limited (30 copies!) lathe-cut 10-inch which raised funds for grassroots human, animal and environmental rights organisations, this is now download only (ed. – fundraising for the grassroots network Operation Solidarity in Ukraine). My only criticism is that—in common with many digital releases—it would be nice to include the lyrics.
