reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Sadaharu - Resist. Revolt. Reclaim.

The first half of this album will not grab your attention as strongly as the second half; however, once the abrupt transitions and unpredictable tempo of the second half occur, you will listen intently.   This punk band does not communicate their political stance through an indecipherable trail of profanity and screaming.   Instead, they actually take the time to think and write eloquently, for they are shaping their own revolution.  Although I've read the band is a combination of jazz and punk, the only jazz symphony that occurs is on the final track. When Sadaharu duplicates that sound into the rest of their music, it will make fans revolutionize with them.   To understand my perspective, let the last track segue into the first track, and keep the volume at a steady, loud level.  That is what Sadaharu is capable of when the singer composes himself between the annoying repeats of "Eeeeeeeeeee-yeah-uh!"   During the track, "Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot (Reprise)," an outspoken woman is yelling a speech as layered piano tracks surround her voice:  "Everybody knows that all the people don't have liberty.  All the people don't have freedom.  All the people don't have justice, and that means none of us do."  This is music to stop you from straddling the fence. – Crystal Farina