Iron Reagan, Spoiled Identity

Iron Reagan originally released these songs as a flexi-disc for Decibel Magazine. I’ve got a subscription and have that flexi, but without a turntable, I had to wait until the group released Spoiled Identity before I could fully enjoy the material. Thankfully, I had the five minutes to spare needed to listen to all thirteen songs.

From what I understand, the group wanted to out do prior flexi alum, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and their twelve song offering. So what we’ve got here is 13 thrashing, brash, violent tracks in just under five minutes run time. No need to buckle in or hold on, it’ll be over before your jaw hits the floor. With a release like this, it doesn’t make much sense to delve deeply into each song, but I will point out the ones that grabbed me by the balls and dragged me along for the ride.

The 38 second “The Living Skull” piledrives through one ear and out the other quite abrasively. “Zero Gain” is as old school as these guys can get in its 12 seconds. The title track is probably the most developed song on the release complete with initial build-up, raw vibe and even a tempo shift before the guys wrap it all up in just over a minute. I simply love “Your Kid’s an Asshole.” “Cops Don’t Like Me, I Don’t Like Cops” is an expansion of a line that we’ve heard on previous Municipal Waste material. “Declaration of War” is a bruiser of a song and probably my favorite.

Spoiled Identity is essentially one of those releases you throw on and hit repeat for a few spins before going about your day, jacked up and ready to rumble. Iron Reagan are all about short bursts of aggression and this EP is the epitome of that. Pick it up, hit play, shotgun a beer, grab another cold one and repeat as necessary.