Killing California – Goin’ South Reviewed by Witz

Thrashy growling punk. Goin’ South is the second full length release, and first release on Basement Records from San Clemente’s Killing California. Taking obvious cues from Hot Water Music, Anti-Flag, Rise Against, and more, Killing California punches out tough, gritty, thrashy punk that some might classify as metal. The lead singer roars out raw growling lyrics while the three other members fall in behind with loud, fast, although sometimes redundant chords, and drums. While a lot of the album sounds fairly typical for the genre, there are a few standout tracks that are definitely worth checking out, and I imagine they are a lot of fun to see live. FCC CLEAN (as far as I can tell…)

*1) Solo guitar intro breaks into energetic fury. Catchy roaring chorus. (2:45)
**2) Most interesting and organized track. Great bass-work and backup vocals compliment steady Hot Water Music-like vocals. (2:37)
3) Spoken intro and verses ala Rise Against and Anti-Flag. (2:10)
4) Guitar intro breaks into instrumental only intro followed by pretty mundane and typical shouting and chord progressions. (3:53)
*5) Hard and driving, catchy chorus. (2:03)
6) Two minutes of head slammin’ fun. (1:51)
7) Energy filled thrashing guitars and more screaming vocals. (2:45)
8) Rock n’ roll feel to instrumentals. Slower and bouncing, but still angry. (3:22)
9) Scream, thrash, scream, repeat. (2:49)
10) Song written in memoriam for their friend, Joe. Good guitars and raw vocals. (2:59)