Album Review: Make The Noise by Rehasher

Roger Lima, bass player extraordinaire of Less Than Jake has an amazing other band named Rehasher. They have released two full length albums, Off Key Melodies and High Speed Access To My Brain - both of which were just brilliant, fast aggressive pop punk. No, after a six year wait Roger has released a brand new album under the Rehasher banner named Make The Noise, I was beyond excited to check it out!

The guitar intro of the opening song Don't Make Me instantly reminds me of one of my favourite LTJ songs Pete Jackson Is Getting Married. Rogers vocals on the verse are much more aggressive than we are normally used to before getting to a strong catchy chorus that will get a crowd jumping. The song itself is about fighting to keep following your dreams despite people trying to get you to stop. The music on song number two, On My Way To Get You is unrelenting, the drums in particular really going off like a machine gun. I like how Rogers vocal changes from a punk rock shout to a more melodic tuneful style at different points of the song. Punk singers so have some vocal range. What You're Seeking begins with an impressive guitar riff, showing Rogers talent as a guitarist as well as a bass player. This is the get right down to the front of the stage, get your fist in the air and shout style of pop punk that I love. That's what I've come to expect from Rehasher songs and so far it's not disappointing. The fourth song is called How To Lose Yourself and is a bit more mellow. It's a great song but I do question the placing of the song on the album as Make The Noise was just picking up some real speed. 

My Silver Platter is a total sing along song. With the opening cry of "Pick Me Up I'm Feeling Down" Roger's vocal carries the melody of this med tempo paced track. There is an interesting sound bite played over some bass midway through the song about the young generation expected everything to be handed to them. I'm not sure whether Roger is making a point towards the music industry or life in general but it's a very good point and observation on modern culture. I Might Explode brings us to the halfway point of the album and begins with a proper punk rock introduction. Musically this song could easily fit onto a Less Than Jake album, in my head I've easily worked out where Buddy and  Jr's horns my fit in. It's a fast paced, catchy pop punk song that will be stuck in your head for ages. Vast Minority is another fast paced punk rock track that doesn't really slow down until the last quarter of the song. Track number eight, S's B-Day feels like one of the more personal tracks on the album where Roger sings about accidently letting someone down even though he doesn't feel like it's his fault. This goes back to a mid-tempo pace with the emphasis really on the lyrics of the song.

Waste My Words is my favourite track on Make The Noise. From the very beginning I knew this would be a song that I loved. The tempo isn't the fastest but there is such passion in Rogers voice it really grabs your attention and makes you want to listen to what he is saying. As you might expect the chorus is super catchy and will have you singing during the first listen. For me that's the sign of a brilliant songwriter. Symptom Checker is a great, fast and furious punk jam with quite a serious tone to it. Another of the strongest songs on what is shaping up to be a cracking album. Symptom Checker is a song about worrying about the state of your mental health and wondering who you are supposed to be before learning it's okay to be  yourself. Good, positive messaging. The chorus of the penultimate song Right Here Right Now feels like it could be a massive anthem. Sandwiched between some super fast verses, it this is another huge and brilliantly simple chorus that will get a lot of crowd participation at Rehasher shows. Make The Noise finishes with a song named Petrograd. Petrograd starts out with a flurry of high tempo guitars that makes sure that your attention doesn't disappear by the final song. 

Make The Noise is another excellent album by Rehasher. If I didn't love Less Than Jake so much I would say it's a shame that Rehasher isn't more active. It's always a fantastic treat when they are though and you can guarantee that what they do will be first class. I don't know if Rehasher have ever made it over to England for some shows, my gosh it would be amazing if they did. Make it happen Roger!

Like Rehasher here: https://www.facebook.com/rehasher69 

Buy Make The Noise here: http://rehasher.bigcartel.com/product/make-the-noise-cd