Hailing from down under, in the Melbourne suburb of Ferntree Gully, La Famiglia unleashes a powerful garage punk assault. Deep fuzz rules the guitars and bass, while front man Luke Seymoup belts out some powerful singing and shouting, in a Jello Biafra meets Ian MacKaye sort of way. The songs are punctuated by shouted gang vocals in songs that speak to things like the world crumbling around us, but we still have to go to work, or being angry, stupid, and destructive. The best tracks have this deep garage sound, but it’s not the only trick La Famiglia have. “One of the Boys” is a dirty, gritty track with more of a rock and roll sound that decries toxic masculinity, the typical racist and sexist traits of the traditional image of masculinity, and particularly with the stereotypical fan of ‘90s hardcore. “They Said We Wouldn’t Make It” is speedy hardcore with solid melodic content and big gang vocals in a skate punk sort of vein.  “Wrote This Book” is reminiscent of late ‘80s New York Hardcore. “Meathead Bop” has the sound of a novelty tune, with a dancing bounce, which is appropriate, because the song is about a “dance sensation that puts us all in awkward situations.” In other words, the song is a celebration of the boneheaded things we all do. And the ending track, “Should Have Treated You Better,” sounds influenced by The Dead Kennedys. The record is varied, yet cohesive. The lyrics are both intelligent and funny-dumb at the same time. The whole thing is pretty engaging.

Check out the album here: https://lukeseymoup.bandcamp.com/album/ftg-wwd

-Paul Silver