Review / 200 Words Or Less
Charged
Summer 2008

Melotov Cocktail (2009) Campbell

Charged – Summer 2008 cover artwork
Charged – Summer 2008 — Melotov Cocktail, 2009

Charged is a hardcore band from southern California, playing a pretty straightforward style. The vocals are probably the strongest part of this band, reminding me a little bit of Verse or even Cut the Shit. The music ranges from fast-paced punk beats to slower breakdowns, and brings in a decent amount of melodic and singing parts, akin to Stay Gold. In their second release, Charged still sounds a bit confused in how they want their band to sound. Each part or song could be pretty solid on its own, but something gets lost in the transition between progressions. Sometimes the melodic side of the band seems misplaced, simply because the other parts don't fit as well as I'd like them to. The guitar sweeps in the last track, "Braveheart," show that this band is trying really hard to do something different. But it's not always best to try something different, because you can end up sacrificing solid parts for failed attempts at original riffs. This isn't bad, it just needs to know what it's trying to do, and not try to appeal to such a wide range of sub-styles.

5.0 / 10Campbell • May 27, 2009

Charged – Summer 2008 cover artwork
Charged – Summer 2008 — Melotov Cocktail, 2009

Related news

Come Together Recharged 2018

Posted in Shows on May 12, 2018

New politically charged Bouncing Souls song

Posted in MP3s on January 27, 2017

Recently-posted album reviews

Professor and the Madman

Dreamworld
FullerTone Records (2026)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Brand New World”, “12 Strings and Tambourines”, “Adams Street”, “Temple of Madness” It’s rare to find these days. A band (or maybe supergroup, in this case) that defies all genre boundaries and just…creates. Alfie Agnew (Adolescents, D.I.) and Sean Elliott (D.I., Mind Over Four) are familiar names from Orange County’s early 80s hardcore and psych-punk scenes, but … Read more

Chat Pile

Who Loves The Sun
Flenser (2026)

If Chat Pile were a film, they would be a dark thriller. The kind that builds tension until the end and, once we reach the third act, still might not ever show the killer. It's plodding and intense and, while I just pulled out a genre reference, the best thing about the band is how much they defy conventional musical … Read more

Generacion Suicida

Hombre Nuevo
Vitriol (2026)

On the tail end of Autogramm’s 2018 tour of Mexico (what little I remember of that week now is a lot of pulque and not a lot of sleep) I visited the one punk record store in CDMX that I found via googling where to buy bootleg punk t-shirts. I’d already visited Venas Rotas Discos earlier on the trip and … Read more