The history of alchalant dates back over 10 years to the band Nonchalant, the first punk rock band helmed by guitarist/vocalist Alex Matijow. Nonchalant had some minor success before going dormant and coming back to life as alchalant. The new name derives from a combination of Matijow’s first name and “chalant”.
The band plays a diverse brand of poppy punk rock that fairly bounces off the walls with energy and spirit. The major drawback to alchalant’s material is that it has all been done before many, many times. One doesn’t need doses of space rock, polka, bagpipes and dubstep to make punk rock work, but a little innovation wouldn’t hurt.
The first eight tracks here comprise alchalant’s new material for 2011-2012, while the generous helping of 7 bonus tracks is actually the first Nonchalant record released back in 2002. The newer material is smoother sounding and a bit more melodic, but there’s no real drastic difference between the old and new material.
“Better Off Dead” is quirky pop punk with the emphasis on the pop instead of the punk and some odd touches of electronics around the fringes. “Control” has a leaner, sparser sound with more punk energy and very strong hooks. It sounds like its being played by an altogether angrier band than “Better Off Dead” and these more aggressive songs are really where alchalant shines. The album’s diversity becomes apparent on the next track “LL”, which is almost a ska/cowpunk mixture and very brief in duration.
The remainder of the “new” material flies all over the map. “Binary” and “Bronchities” are very snotty, melodic punk with rather trite and overdone vocals from Alex. He sounds much more natural and less forced on the thrashy rager “National Blues 2011″ and bouncy “Nightmares”. Then “Dawn” is a stripped down, smoky cut with appealing melody
After 12 CD tracks of silence, the older Nonchalant material shows a rawer version of alchalant that is not quite so diverse but perhaps more appealing to the straight up punk because of that. “Bandaids”, “Fee For Free” and the earlier version of “National Blues” are all fast, rough and ready, sounding like a band that just wants to plug in and rock out.
It’s all delivered efficiently and with a lot of passion, but so many bands are already treading the same territory as alchalant, it’s going to be hard for these guys to really make a mark.
Review by Mike Korn
Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)
