(GRAVITY DIP)
Read and re-read instructions carelessly before listening. Instruction, sick and tired of being slaves to instructions, are high octane saviours of old skool punk rock 'n' roll, armed and animated with some damn catchy hooks and enough energy to catapult Geoff Capes from Dover to Calais.
In what has been hell of a great year for this New York quartet with a penchant for performing ear-bleeding live sets (if you can, you MUST see them�), 'Rise Up' sounds just as cool on record as it does on stage, its racy pop-punk-rock spirit carrying this salaciously passionate sing-along along with knives in the back of all those bands who 'fake their punk' and have nothing worthwhile to say in their music.
Instruction have to be admired in the respect that pointless pop-punk trash isn't on their musical agenda. They play their quality music and they mean it and don't have one cheesy lyric. The best way to understand their approach is to bear witness to the live version b-side of their live favourite 'Your Punk Sucks,' which is their most punkish track fortified by Tom Capone's guitar tricks, scolding with frontman singer/guitarist Arty Shepherd's lyrical spit-spats 'I just wanna fuck - I wanna fuck the enemy - Jesus is the enemy - fuck you.' Whoah! Steady Arty - you don't want to be potentially offending too many God-believers this early in your careers� do you?
Instruction, when at their raciest and most confrontational, are un-ignorably brilliant. Still, the most outstanding track on this single is the intriguing 'Feed The Culture' that is so far removed from the typical, hard and fast Instruction sound that it's near-impossible to believe this is really Arty singing his heart out in such a high-note-hitting manner with such tenderly affecting grace. Acoustic-based, this is sublime, monumental and simply heavenly.
So, your Instruction should you accept it�
(Steve Rudd)
www.instruction-music.co.uk