Baltimore’s End It is the kind of band that hardcore exists to give a voice to. Honest, self-critical, anti-racist and suspicious of authority, their debut EP One Way Track impacts your ears like a cinder block crashing through the front windshield of a police car. Embodying the 90’s east-coast hardcore sound of funk-thrash fanatics Gut Instinct and the world-weary anger of NYC’s Neglect, their sound has all of the raw energy and rebellious vitality of a fresh coat of irreverent spray paint on a “moral majority” styled, neo-liberal, politician’s campaign billboard while a police precinct burns in the background. What I’m trying to say is that End It rules the streets, and you better not think you can take them back without risking taking a skateboard truck to the temple. The EP gets off a knockout blow with its opening track “Hardhead,” which starts with a sample of country singer Charlie Rich’s 1977 song “Rollin’ with the Flow,” before putting a boot in your gut with a Bulldozer-tipped chord shellac and the triumphant cry of vocalist Akil Godsey's righteous snap. “HTF” has more forward cross-over influences and lyrics about standing your ground and not giving into fear. The final two tracks are quintessential east-coast, truth-in-practice hardcore, with “Lifer” stacking sturdy, steely chords to a lightning-fast, left-hook/right-jab, dancing groove with lyrics about breaking out of the oppression of one's surroundings and fighting to make a life for yourself. The wallop you receive on “Lifer” is followed by the Absolution-esque glide and brakeless sprint of title track “One Way Track,” which features high-winding metallic hardcore guitars and a devastating, pit-charging breakdown. If End It’s One Way Track doesn’t inspire you to do something about your god-damned life or the injustice in this world, then there isn't anything that will.
Get a copy of One Way Track from Flatspot Records, here.
