The Lizards – “Future Life”

Comprising of three chaps by the name of Pat, Stubs and Marty, The Lizards have popped out a short and sharp punk rock nugget.

Perhaps aware of the limitations of the genre, the Adelaide trio have compacted Future Life down to a frantic ten track, twenty seven minute assault. It is an unrelenting full throttle journey that is all said and done quicker than your average sitcom episode.

‘Raging Bull‘ is an appropriate title for a song that approaches with all the pent up energy of a bull out of a gate. A mere two minutes later title track ‘Future Life‘ is also charging at us. With the constant pounding drums, throbbing bass and shredding guitar solos, these two tracks set the pace for an album that never takes it’s foot off the pedal.

Vocalist Pat (last name withheld) provides some suprisingly positive lyrics to accompany the musical aggression. Self reflection is a theme that rears it’s head on more than one occasion, most notably in ‘Rely‘. Over a somewhat more metal flavoured guitar the words “I gave myself a chance to find joy in things I like about me” seem oddly out of place, but in a pleasant way. Similarly, the album’s most melodic track ‘Rolling With The Punches‘ (“I’m flying through the air today, I don’t care”) ponders life’s undulations, dealing with the bad and embracing the good. Wedged between these two songs is the contrasting mood of ‘Missed The Point‘ where a failure to seize the day is lamented (“Plain forgot to wake up today, walked around like the living dead”).

Pure and simply Future Life is a straight up punk record, spiced up with the occasional hint of metal. It is nothing groundbreaking for the genre but is fast and fun as well as being concise, ensuring that it is done and dusted before becoming tiresome.

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Gavin Stocker

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Outside of Across The Ocean Gavin Stocker writes, records and performs music under the moniker of P Truck.

He can also be found clinging to his youth on a skateboard or wandering aimlessly through the bush.