Sick of It All
When The Smoke Clears

In life, certainties are important, even better if accompanied by periods rather than annoying commas and ellipses.

I think back to when, in high school, I would try to sit quietly in the afternoon doing algebra exercises and various types of equations. I put in the effort, but it often ended with me spending an afternoon tormenting my soul and despairing because the solution given by the book didn’t match the one I found. And I would end up staying up late, nervously biting my nails. What bad memories, what a terrible beast mathematics is, but luckily high school is long gone.
Other times, other stories, of course, but certainties are important. We always need them, in every aspect of daily life, whether it's a person next to us, family, friends, or work, these help us, strengthen us, and make things less complicated.

Sick Of It All is a certainty in perhaps a more ephemeral but still important field. Hailing from Queens (New York), they have been active since 1986 and were founded by brothers Lou (vocals) and Pete Koller (guitar), with the original lineup completed by Armand Majidi on drums and Rich Cipriano, the latter being replaced by Craig Setari on bass in 1993.

They cut their teeth playing and rehearsing at the famous (now former) music temple of CBGB and in 1989 (an important year for the scene, also marked by the release of “Start Today” by Gorilla Biscuits) they debuted with “Blood, Sweat and No Tears.”
The calling card is significant and includes true gems of New York hardcore punk like “Scratch The Surface” (1994) and “Built To Last” (1997), true feats of strength against the trend of the period that saw the melodic currents of punk emerging to the surface.
Above all, they embody the integrity and history of NYC, a concentration of passion, sweat, and commitment. And they seem to want to remind us of this with this short five-piece EP celebrating their 30 years of activity.

This EP released by Century Media pleasantly surprised me as it is characteristically on the edge of rhythmic lashes, granular slowdowns close to certain muscular metalcore influences, which are quite evident in their post-2000 works (“Black Venom”) and pleasant oi-punk choruses more present than in the past (listen to their surprisingly melodic “Doomed Campaign” and the final “Fortress”).

With a long world tour and “When the Smoke Clears,” SOIA self-celebrates in a worthy manner and instead of resorting to the usual useless greatest hits, they offer us five new songs that certify their vitality, intensity, and consistency, not insignificant qualities for those who play a certain type of music.

Many happy returns.