The pandemic has pushed us all to the limits of our endurance, more or less. Some got sick, some lost important, close people, and some simply reached their mental limits. And it’s not over yet.
AUTHORITY ZERO experienced the same. They wrote songs during the pandemic, trying to process the situation and to somehow stay stable. With these songs, they went into the studio, and then the producer came. He didn’t say it was bad, but he did say it was quite negative. At least that’s how it’s told in the album's creation story. Well then, they sat down with the producer and worked on the lyrics. The producer was Cameron Webb, who has produced for illustrious bands like Pennywise and Motörhead.
The result is an album that gets to the point quite well in over 40 minutes. Really nice punk rock from the American, yes Californian school, even though the band is from Arizona, but the sun shines plenty there too, and the sunny state of California is not far away. The band’s sound is not as hard as Pennywise, not as fast and intricate as Descendents, yet it’s really good.
Fast punk rock, melodic with plenty of drive, fitting vocals, and perfectly placed choruses. You immediately feel like grabbing your skateboard and heading out or cranking up the stereo in the car and enjoying life.
It’s true that the sound and the lyrics bring a smile to your face. That’s all the band wanted.
The originally rather dark, negative lyrics have been worked on to the extent that they now provide courage and strength. Both are needed for the time ahead, because unfortunately, it’s still not over. And even when it is over, we will probably have to learn again how to dance, sweating, body to body in the mosh pit.
The cryptic title comes from the saying in the game “Hide and Seek”...
come out, come out, wherever you are...
Come out, don’t stay alone...we’re not playing hide and seek here. We don’t want to hide. We want to come out, live, be free.
In this sense, great album, buy it!
The album is available in a beautiful digipack with a lyric booklet, in limited splatter vinyl, and in the USA, the album is even released on cassette (wow!).
