Formed in 1996 and know as "77" the band changed their name to Dun2Def in 2001. Personnel may have come and gone but the heart of the band has always pumped blood of the purest punk. In their time they have played (and indeed still continue to do so) with many of the "Old Skool" bands e.g. UK Subs; The Varukers; The Vibrators; Demob; Angelic Upstarts; GBH to name but a few!

Riot Torn City, consisting of 11 tracks, (one a cover of the UK Subs RIOT), is due for release in June and marks the current line ups first joint recording project as Ferret(VOX) is the only surviver of the band's last album. So has this meant a new direction?

For the answer to that question you will have to buy a copy and find out for yourself. What this I hear you cry, a cop out? Far from it. The band would have evolved since the last album anyway, new personnel always add new ingredients in to the mix. So I guess a more accurate question is how much of a new direction does this latest offering take? That's what you need to make up your own minds about!

The intro of LESS THAN NOTHING certainly indicates what ever follows you will be on firm ground a feeling further confirmed by the pounding drum beat and the excellent bass work that provides the drive and energy from which the rest of the song feeds.

YOU'RE A DISEASE follows and a is a decent slice of OLD SKOOL punk. Drums and Bass once more are the core around which the rest of the song forms and is embelished with some good 'edgy' guitar sounds and its overall sing-a-long quality.

HEADZ is more of the same.Simple in construct it may be but this doen't diminish the drive and the power. Good on CD but a song that will be dynamite live.

WE KNOW WHAT is an unbashed anthem with a backward glance at how it was back in the day going on to extol the virtues of the punk ethos "So we stand. Side by Side. Never to be taken for a ride. We are brothers arm in arm. None of us will come to any harm." proclaims the song, a sentiment thats hard to argue with.

RIOT TORN CITY. Title track. A great track. But. And the but was something I had difficulty putting my finger on. The opening bass riff sets out the songs stall from the first note, the guitars and drums on the rest of the intro support and develop the opening wonderfully, the combination of drums, bass, and guitars through out the song are good and the choruses are excellent. Its the main vocal that seems to sit a bit at odds. I think its because it sounds a bit TOO much like its been recorded in a studio. Yes I know it WAS recorded is studio. But I feel personally that its sanitized the vocal just a tad too far removing the natural energy that certainly would be there in a LIVE situation. Judge for yourself when you take a listen. Remember this is my personal view, and that I do like the song. It's just my humble opinion that the vocal sounds a bit over produced in places.

DRINKING AND FIGHTING. Standard googd quality old skool punk, well performed, and another that I'm sure will be a winner live. It's my least favourite track on the album. But then there will be those that it's one of the best tracks on offer. That's fine. Individuality is what this is all about.

1979. If this song were a stick of rock you would see SPIRIT OF PUNK written right through it. This nugget of nostalgia will take many of us old back to the halcion days of our youth. Colouring your hair with what was ever available in your mums kitchen cupboard and with none of the hair gels available today, using a range of homemade solutions to make your hair stand up... those were indeed the days!

CROWDED ROOM. A song that has really kept that "live" vibe. Bags of attitude, edge and power. Fantastic. One of my 'songs of the album'.

RIOT. Playing a cover is always a difficult one. Normally you would want to put your own 'stamp' on it and not just do a note for note rip off of the original. However, when the raw material is rather special, it doesn't need or in fact stand up to over working. The band pull off a difficult job here and do it well.

WHERE WHERE YOU is another unashamed look back at the way the scene used to be "...playing packed houses every night, back in the day. Now all we've got is an empty pub, the groupies are old and grey..." it goes on to highlight the apathy that blights the modern scene and asks the very poigniant question "...what you gonna do when it all comes crashing down? what are you gonna do when there's no one else around?.." Excellent stuff and one that has me singing out loud every time I hear it! This is another track where I felt that the main vocal was just a bit too 'produced' but not quiet as much as on the title track but even this doesn't stop it being one of the best songs on offer.

BARGAIN BOOZE - They say save the best 'til last, and there are a few tracks here that could just as easily claimed this spot using that selection criteria, but BARGAIN BOOZE is just one of those songs that you know is gonna work well as a set closer or a closing album track. Pure class. Pure Punk. Pure Pleasure!

All the songs with the exception of RIOT are written by the band. RIOT (Harper, Butler).

DUN2DEF are

FERRET - VOX
ASH - LEAD GUITAR
CHRIS - RHYTHM GUITAR
TOM AK - BASS*
ROB - DRUMS

*CHRIS B played bass on tracks 4.WE KNOW WHAT; 6. DRINKING AND FIGHTING; and 11. BARGAIN BOOZE

In summary, a great piece of work that the band can feel justifiably proud about, but don't just take my word for it, when it goes on general release, get a copy! And I am now looking at all the various gig dates to see when the earliest opportunity is when I can catch these boys live.

Respectfully submitted by
A Man Called Moose

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"PUNK AS" WEBSITE REVIEW BY MATT

http://www.punkas.com/riottorncity.html

Punk rock has become an increasingly complicated genre with arbitrary rules over what constitutes 'being punk' and very specific politics and social consciousness applied to it. Sometimes, it is refreshing just to cut things back to the purity of distorted guitars playing power chords over 4/4 rhythms with lyrics about drinking and having fun. In that regard, Dun2Def most definitely deliver.

The UK act may be saddled with a truly awful band name, but that is easily forgiven in the face of material such as Riot Torn City. This is a blast of old school, fuck-off punk rock with big choruses and sneering writ large. The album has 11 songs that rattle by in 30 minutes, so it does not outstay its welcome, the band wisely aware of the fact that this sort of material is best enjoyed as a sugar rush.

This is music to drink to, particularly the monstrous sing-along of closer "Bargain Booze", with its chorus, "We're all fucked up, covered in shit tattoos/Spending all our money at Bargain Booze" – one song which surely must be huge live in a sweaty pub. "1979" is a similarly anthemic drink-along, as is the excellent "You're A Disease".

Surprisingly deft guitar solos are scattered through in a tasteful manner, but some of the power is eroded by somewhat tinny production values, particularly where the clean guitar tone is at the forefront. The other drawback is that the stripped-back nature of the lyrics sometimes strays into the realm of childish simplicity.

Perhaps the clearest definition of the Dun2Def sound is that a cover of the UK Subs' "Riot" is dropped into the mix and feels completely at home.

A punchy blast of old school punk rock, Riot Torn City is a hugely enjoyable slab of down 'n' dirty catchy tunes. Check it out.