There is something quite pleasing about listening to a release from a new punk band and finding out they’ve broken up. Sometimes it just was meant to be, other times its through design. Either way it doesn’t really matter. What really matters is the quality of the music. Does it do what you hoped it would before you pressed play? In the case of FUCK NO’s debut EP Hostile Environment yes, yes it does. The band was made up of members of Gulls, Austerity, Personal Best, and Pascagoula. Individually they have been responsible for some of the best, most forward thinking music in recent years. So, no slouches then. Collectively, however, this is something else!
The EP lives up to its name. From the jarring opening this is anything but a pummelling experience. For six minutes you experience the kind of unrelenting drubbing that is usually dished out in every pit at punk shows across the country. Despite its sparse length, Hostile Environment is an exhausting experience. Lyrics like “everything we touch, turns to dust and ash. Embers fading, waiting for the crash”, “hail seitan”, “trans women are women” and “a travesty yr majesty, worth more than yr salary” are fired at you from point black range and feel like motivational posters for the damned. Musically it’s more of the same. The longest song, ‘Human Plague’, is a sub 90 second beast. The guitars are seething. The drumming batters you for the duration while the biting lyrics give you something to think about, briefly, before the next track kicks in.
Rumour has it FUCK NO broke up as soon as Hostile Environment was finished. If this is true it is both a masterstroke and a shame. You should always leave the audience wanting more and after six minutes I’d claim more is definitely still needed, but if this is all we’ll be getting from FUCK NO then I’m happy with that too, as Hostile Environment is six minutes of piss and vinegar all wrapped up with a Hardcore bow. This is everything that we need now and more.
