The Escaped's full-length debut,
Rose City Hard Core, finds the Portland hardcore gang going where many a band, from
Rancid and
Sick of It All to
Minor Threat and
the Gorilla Biscuits, have gone before. Not that this ten-song entry is weak or uninspired -- fusing working-class ideals and good old-fashioned angst in a forum where street punk and hardcore meet. Ripe for your next melee, the group's fiery force, replete with the dual vocal assault of Zac Fishnets and RIP, yields bruising anthems like "My Fight" and "Violence." A throwback to fine efforts by tough punk bands of yore,
Rose City Hard Core is a steel-tipped boot in the ass of a dwindling genre. What it lacks in ingenuity it well makes up for in execution. ~ John D. Luerssen