Unglued Reviews

It would have been a massive injustice if Time Again hadn’t ended up on Hellcat Records, given how much their sound is indebted to Hellcat co-owner Tim Armstrong’s band Rancid – particularly that group’s earlier, heavily street-punk albums. Time Again’s second full-length takes the blueprint for most of its songs straight from Rancid’s Let’s Go record: opener Day Like This and Montreal (Street Kids) duplicate that hardcore sound, Armstrong-soundalike vocalist Daniel Dart’s rapid-fire verses on One Way Or Another call to mind As One, new bassist Oren Soffer’s rattling delivery echoes Matt Freeman’s, and the first line of Movin’ On’s spoken intro even seems a direct homage to Dope Sick Girl.

With the infectious Lines Are Faded, they also show the influence of …And Out Come the Wolves, 1995’s accessible breakthrough release. Similarly catchy qualities appear on Lookin’ Back (an unusual expression of contrition in a genre that’s usually gloriously unrepentant), the memorable TV Static and particularly the final cut Outcast. However, the bulk of the album remains full-throttle, as on the pummelling 90-second You’re Going Down.

It’s difficult to overlook the Rancid comparisons (although guitarist Elijah Reyes’ riff on Soon It Will Be could have come from Offspring’s classic Smash album, so fans of 90s punk are in for a treat), but unlike equally derivative labelmates Static Thought, Time Again capture the substance of their role models as well as the surface. As familiar as they are, these aren’t just hackneyed variations on existing riffs, but great songs – especially Lines Are Faded and the fist-in-the-air shoutalong anthem Outcast.

Owen Heitmann