ALBUM REVIEW: Character Stop – USA Nails

USA NAILS are nothing if not prolific. Character Stop is the London-based noise punks’ fifth album since their 2014 debut. With every release, they have proven themselves a raucous, abrasive, and scathing band difficult to pigeonhole into a single genre. This album is no exception. Recorded live over four days, the result is as raw and energetic as one might expect from such a process. Character Stop follows just over a year after the band’s fourth effort, Life Cinema, and in many ways it feels a clear continuation of this record. The album features a combination of USA NAILS‘ trademark angular chaos, as well as more dour slower moments. All of this adds up to a deeply primal and visceral half hour.

Much like USA NAILS‘ previous releases, one of Character Stop’s standout features are the lyrics. On this record the band explore themes as varied as “the online personas of aggressive twitter users” and “the joy (and despair) of being a part-timer.” Many of the lyrics on Character Stop are quite simple and repetitive, adding to the primal feel of the album. They are also often imbibed with a scathing sarcasm and nastiness from vocalist Steven Hodson. Hodson could rarely, if ever, be accused of singing on Character Stop. Instead, he opts for sharp shouts, often mixed with a more spoken delivery, and even whispers on final track Wallington.

A particular lyrical, and overall, highlight on Character Stop is the album’s fourth track, How Was Your Weekend? The song features driving distorted bass-led verses and explosive noisy choruses. On top of this, Hodson delivers a sharp, sarcastic exploration of the mundane. The song’s chorus of “Hello, How Was Your Weekend? Yeah it was ok, yeah it was alright” might be the best example of this, but the line “I just drank a litre of service station coffee – dare me to drive?” definitely deserves a mention as well. How Was Your Weekend? is also one of a few songs on Character Stop which shows the band’s often amusing, self-depreciating side. Lyrics like “We are part time artists, we are full time amateurs” and “Say two words, say three words, say two or three words, that makes a line” show that USA NAILS aren’t taking themselves too seriously.

Other highlights on the record include the second and seventh tracks, I Don’t Own Anything and No Pleasure. The former is a short, dissonant rager which rails against the treatment of millennials and zoomers “who live on zero hours contracts, and who are currently experiencing a mental health epidemic… blamed for their own misfortune because they like to eat avocados sometimes.” The latter is a bouncy, punky track which feels most reminiscent of the band’s first two albums. At one point it even brings to mind the hooky melodic chaos of something like THE ARMED’s Only Love.

The album also ends on a strong note. Temporary Home is a slow, dirty track with some real swagger, like a more scabrous version of IDLES. Closer Wallington is a downbeat piece which features Hodson‘s already mentioned whispered vocals. It’s an unsettling and memorable way to end the record, especially with it’s bursts of dissonant noise.

There is something about Character Stop, and USA NAILS in general, which feels super British. Not in a pompous, patriotic way – it’s more how the band capture a sense of the mundane and the monotonous and make it feel bitingly nasty. Overall, it’s a good addition to the band’s strong back catalogue. While it may not mark a huge evolution from their previous releases, it proves that USA NAILS are at no risk of running out of energy or ideas just yet.

Rating: 8/10

Character Stop is out now via Hex Records (USA) and Bigout Records (Europe).

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