It was released on Fat Wreck Chords on November 1, 2005. For the weirdos and misfits who know how good music in a record store sounds.New Mexican Disaster Squad / Western AddictionĬognicide is Western Addiction's first full-length album. Tremulous is a lot of things, but to me, it’s an album for and about the lovers of song as politicized and angry as it can be as gut-wrenchingly personal as loud, brash, and downright fun - it’s a gift to those of us who use music as a bookmark for pages in our lives. Music is weaponized art, punk rock is a degenerate’s paintbrush and canvas– an alphabet to spell personal turmoil. “Your Life is Precious” is a heady breather, a reminder why we’re all involved in this punk rock nonsense in the first place, anchored by a line that’ll touch most any of us: “it doesn’t sound good like music in a record store.” I think that’s where the album’s tell truly is. The album ends with the most daring song Western Addiction has done to date. They’re tasteful and subdued compared to other Fat Wreck acts though, and do well to add, not subtract from the band’s forward momentum. The relative prominence of vocal melodies on Tremulous is one of the most noticeable instances of growth since Cognicide. Songs like “Honeycreeper,” a slower, jammier track with a catchy chorus gives the album a bit of texture and keeps the album from sagging in the middle. You have to have the hooks, or else chance it blurring into one angry chord progression. There’s no bad songs here, and the band understands how to write an album. ![]() Tremulous’ greatest strength is that it’s good all the way through. Tension and release are a hallmark of their talent– they know when to hold back and they know when to explode. The drums and bass are on the same page, with danceable beats filling even the quieter parts of the song with a nervous energy. When the guitars palm-mute their way through a progression, you feel like you’re on the verge of something violent, they’re a work of tension. I don’t know how they do it, but Western Addiction imbue the age-old punk vocab with new life. “Clatter and Hiss” opens the album, a classic rager, propelled by riffs and chugging chords. The spaghetti-western licks have taken on a Burdette-borne neocrust tinge, the drums are as insistent as ever, and the vocals still deliver couplet after couplet of emphatic rebellion. On Tremulous, they introduce more ideas to the mix, as well as maximizing the potential of others. Through and through, Western Addiction has their own sound, their own idiosyncrasies that make their music their own. They’re real talent though is combining all of these elements and being more than just a pastiche. They’re a distillation of everything punk rock can be, with background vocals, chugging guitars, screamed dissent, and unrelenting speed. It’s not totally unfair, as they do draw the core of their sound from the genre, but there’s something more pure that Western Addiction is reaching for. While it serves as a suitable shorthand, calling Western Addiction a hardcore band is a bit of a misnomer. ![]() ![]() Tremulous is a testament to Western Addiction’s songwriting and musicianship as much as it is a personal album and a declarative statement of what punk rock can be. It’s been twelve years since since their last full-length though, and now we finally have our follow up. They’re loud and angry, snide and fun they blend the spectrum of punk into a catchy, moshable behemoth. When Western Addiction plays, it’s like discovering punk rock for the first time.
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