If you�ve read my review of Pressure Point�s first album, Youth Of The Street, you know how much I like (or love) this band.
That�s why I�m sorry to say that their second album, Cross To Bear, is a disappointment. Somehow there�s as much energy as is on Youth Of The Street. Everything seems to be right. Melodies are good and the songs have great sing-a-long choruses. But somehow this is not as good as I expected. I don�t know if it�s because of a different producer (Youth Of The Street was produced by Mark Noah from Anti-Heros and this was produced by Lars Frederiksen from you-know-where). Maybe the songs are too similar.
But that doesn�t mean that this is bad record. Not at all. This record has good songs like �Boots N� Booze�, �Never Walk Alone�, �Never Look Back�, �Fuck You�, and �Bitter End�. �Overworked, Underpayed�s intro is taken from some Robert DeNiro movie, but I can�t remember which one.
The lyrics are really good. I won�t write many lines as examples, but you can�t go wrong when you sing �Hang �em, hang �em high, watch the fucking bastard die� when it�s about rapist.
Like I said, I think the problem is that the songs are too similar. All of the songs have good riffs and guitar melodies and sing-a-long choruses, but if it�s done ten times in the same record I think it�s too much.
Let�s write some other comments here because I don�t know what would be a better place: the cover art is nice, there�s a crucified skinhead, skingirl and punk. The last song, �The Cut-Throat�, is reggae kind of stuff, sort of like �Blue Collar� in Youth Of The Street. I think it�s cool they put one of that kind of song on the album, even though I don�t know if I like it or not.
If you want to get some Pressure Point stuff, I recommend you get their awesome debut album, Youth Of The Street. And I think their new album, To Be Continued, is better than this too. But if you like punk rock / Oi! stuff, why don�t you give this record a chance? To me this CD was a disappointment because this was an average album when I expected great album.
Tracklist:
1. Say Die
2. Boots N' Booze
3. Never Walk Alone
4. Overworked, Underpaid
5. Never Look Back
6. Spirit Of Youth
7. Cross To Bear
8. Fuck You
9. Junkie Dreams
10. Bitter End
11. Nowhere To Turn
12. The Cut-Throat