While I'm not a big fan of the sugary commercial punk that's out there (how big of an oxymoron is that?), I do have a deep-seated respect for the unsigned, unknown and totally underground punk bands that you have to dig to find. There's a rawness there that would only be lost to slick production.
Squander, Squander the Bright New Dawn, a 7-inch by the highly underrated band Chasm, evokes images of really, really early Crucified, Black Flag and the Misfits. Hard, fast and to the blunted point would be the best way to describe the style here. "Word Of Faith" takes a jab at the "name it and claim it" teachings; "MTV Generation" and "Race War" denounces the crass commercialization and the public's tendency to eat it all up blindly; "Squander The Dawn" again deals with being duped into thinking everything's better than it really is; "Last Night" calls for accountability in our Christian walk.
I could say something ultra-cheesy like "All the Green Day and MxPx fans need to be taken to [old] school". . .oh, wait, I just did. . .heh, heh. . .I'll just say that if you consider yourself underground punk, get this 7-inch into your collection. . .
8/10
