Sick of It All
Just Look Around

THE REVIEW

Sweat pouring, muscles contracting, sparks racing like fiber optic cables through the cerebral cortex, espresso coffee tasting like tar, chaotic mosh pits on the tables of the first class of a Frecciarossa heading to Bologna Centrale…

The ease with which SOIA makes my adrenaline rise is a quality that not many possess. Sick Of It All is the anti-epic, a revolutionary manifesto from the working class, from a small dirty suburban garage filled with tools and screwdrivers and oil stains everywhere. In such a small setting, they started playing somewhere in Queens in 1986. There were four of them: brothers Lou and Pete Koller, Armand Majidi, and Rich Cipriano. After the preliminary rounds, they immediately entered the Champions League group of CBGB, getting to know and play with their own idols.

A handful of EPs (the self-titled and “We Stand Alone” between 1987 and 1991) with the debut album "Blood, Sweat and No Tears" all under Relativity Records. Then in 1992, the bombshell “Just Look Around” was dropped, marking the end of the collaboration with the label for the arrival at East West Records.

The least pleasant thing about “Just Look Around” is probably the red and chubby font on the cover that burns the eyes, but otherwise, there's a lot going on, and tracks like “We Want the Truth” and “Stand Alone” (rectius: sing along) are already classics. The knockout punch of “What’s going on” is the wild card capable of derailing from the tracks almost immediately with an almost crazy maneuverability. The line between hardcore punk and thrash metal seems increasingly blurred, with the guitar growing ever more saturated.
The lasting impression, aside from the many notable numbers from “Violent Generation” and “Locomotive” to “Shut Me Out,” is that of a very dark album, a perfect view from above of a nighttime metropolis polluted by exhaust fumes, large industries, dirty and decrepit. More slow-paced and unusual episodes like the title track “Just Look Around” and “The Shield,” where Lou's vocals vaguely approach a rap style, reinforce this decadent and streetwise narrative, compared to “Built To Last” where their oi-punk influences will also emerge.

The turning point, with its controversies, will soon come with the major label signing, but the only noise to remember here will be the deafening decibels emanating from Pete's guitar and Lou's roars combined with the dry and relentless rhythms of Armand Majidi on drums (“What’s Goin’ On” and “Violent Generation”), not forgetting the rhythm section rounded out by Rich Cipriano's bass, distorted and often prominent (“The Shield” and the same title track).

Let's put it this way: I still haven't managed to resolve the question of which is their best album among this one (which among the three has a slightly more pronounced hardcore component), Scratch The Surface, and Built To Last, so in doubt let's celebrate this one for everyone, as one cannot go wrong, given we're facing one of the milestones of American hardcore from the Nineties.