Album/EP

No Quarter - Fear And Loathing On The Pacific Highway (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Apr 24, 2022

7 min read

No Quarter – Fear And Loathing On The Pacific Highway
Released: April 22^nd, 2022

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I have nothing but respect for the many local punk bands around the nation that take their band’s future into their own hands and do everything themselves – not just the writing and recording, but producing and marketing their own gear, through to organising their own shows both locally and interstate.

One such outfit is No Quarter from the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region, who have spent the pandemic working on an album’s worth of new material, no small feat considering the logistics of organising the recording of a few interstate members (their vocalist lives in Queensland).

The result is Fear And Loathing On The Pacific Highway, an album loaded with 13 tracks of awesome melodic skate punk that takes a heavy influence from the likes of Strung Out, Lagwagon and Guttermouth. If you ever find yourself nostalgic over that brief period in the mid-90s where grunge had died down, the Vans Warped Tour was making its mark on rock history, and your music habits consisted of mostly the Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph label, then the likes of No Quarter will cure that craving.

From the opening song ‘I’ll Have One Ticket To The Revolution, Now Pass Me My Brick’ the band delivers tight punk rock riffs, loaded with lyrics that cover a range of topics – it’s worth a visit to their Facebook page for some cool stories around each song. Tracks like ‘One By One’ and ‘Truckstops and Sunsets’ are loving tributes to days at a favourite pub and life on the road, while ‘#cry4attention’ offers commentary on the Instagram crowd. Heavier issues are touched upon in ‘Children of The Faith,’ and toasts to fallen friends come in the form of ‘The Nights We Won’t Forget’ and ‘Shout Out.’

Some more thrash metal influences are thrown into the mix, with some standout solos on ‘For You Are A Witch, and Witches Shall Burn,’ and shades of Blink 182’s earlier sound grace ‘Heather Brooke Where Are You?’ as the song delivers a platter of 90’s references.

Fear And Loathing on The Pacific Highway is a tight and polished album, and with a string of shows planned around multiple states, No Quarter is a must-see band for the diehard punks chomping at the bit to finally get out to some live shows. Check out their video for ‘#cry4attention’ and support some local punks on the DIY scene by picking up their album on Bandcamp.