Review: Fashionism - Smash The State (With Your Face)
By Erin Richmond, Contributor
[Hosehead Records; 2015]
Rating: 5.5/10
Key Tracks: “Breaking Out,” “Smash the State (With Your Face)”
The debut 7” from Canadian supergroup Fashionism is like a piece of bubblegum. Never polite and gone before you know it, Smash the State (With Your Face) is three boisterous tracks that are inarguably more sweet than substantial, although Fashionism packs in enough flavor in a mere seven minutes to contemplate a second (or third) listen.
Smash the State hurls itself somewhere between classic power pop and 1970s British punk--although these tunes are more spunky than edgy and too trashy to be twee. For the most part, Fashionism plays what it knows best; the supergroup is composed of Vancouver punks from New Town Animals, The Tranzmitors and The Jolts.
The title track is an anthem of energy that explodes into a punk-infused Britpop chorus and lands somewhere in the middle of glam rock and a traditional momentous pop song. "Smash the State (With Your Face)" begins with soft claps that fade up to welcome a gritty guitar riff, although the song doesn't really take off until the bass rolls in and takes a nod at Fashionism's classic British punk influences.
Glam influences carry over to “Where Have All the Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls Gone?” but the track relies on keys and gets pigeonholed as monotonous power pop once the first chorus rolls around. Even with a guitar solo to break up the frontman's cries of "Where have they gone?" and a run time of two and a half minutes, it's easy to tune out of this once before we're graced with more hand claps at the end.
The EP closes up with “Breaking Out.” Here, Fashionism returns to its punk origins with what is evidently the band's most effortless tune. This time, the frontman isn't bogged down too much by attempts to sound like a Britpop vocalist and the band plays with the confidence of an actual British punk band, making for a track that is edgy, catchy, and boisterous as opposed to being just boisterous. Unfortunately it's the shortest track, but it's enough to illuminate Fashionism's potential as punk-infused power pop.
Although Fashionism toes the line on becoming easily forgettable, unwrap the potential in Smash the State (With Your Face) and find a quick burst of an EP that is power pop at its core, but dressed in a spunky, 1970s Britpop fashion.
