Times are fairly low, and it’s getting frustrating. No time away from phones, social media, and news can really make the feeling of the world’s bleakness diminish so much. At the very least, music still has the power to help mute it all for a few minutes. Or, in punk rock’s case, articulate that frustration in a barrage of ‘let it all out’ noise in mere seconds.
That’s certainly the modus operandi of Fantazmaz, a now-London based four-piece self-described as ‘Brazilian ghetto punk’—about as accurate a description as you can get. In their debut self-titled, they bring the all-out quick-change power chord riffage, shouty singing and relentless live show energy on wax, recorded just as fast as any music that’s played at a skate park halfpipe or pub’s back room. These penned hits since 2019 by singer Thami and guitarist Raf Oliver are passionate flash floods combining the political ills of their home country and London’s metropolis, bolstered by bassist Chokito and Jamie Oliver, the long-serving drummer for hardcore punks legends U.K. Subs. No, not that Oliver, although when you search the name you’ll find the chef playing a steamer as a ride cymbal along to Ed Sheeran on a Greg James radio slot. Weird.
Anyway, even from the scratchy Myspace-era artwork, this is a murky punk record designed to be pissed off at the world, as it deserves it. It’s a Ripper Roo running on gas, as on the Bad Religion styley You Owe Me A Fortune. Thami’s vocals juggle the Fat Mike throat-spit effect and staircase melodies amid many pogoing moments. Oliver’s splashes in the tiny bubbles of room Fantazmaz gift you are neat, and Warheads is the most rollicking track of them all, even when clocking in above the two-minute mark (as few do). It’s an aggressive and catchy parcel, just as Bullet crams in metallic hardcore palm muting and a sumptuous riff at first cut tantalisingly short, then brought back in a way that makes you do the ‘Say the line, Bart!’ meme. Scars Of Downtown—written about the dark underbelly of London—evokes that feeling with guitars that sound like rats scurrying about on the Tube.
The record serves as a statement; an anti-establishment one following in the Doc Marten footsteps of punk’s elderly statesmen. Corporate Behave is “dedicated to everyone sticking it to the capitalist rulebook” for instance, while Distortion’s video sees Thani jogging around the Barbican––the brutalist masterpiece both grey and foreboding, and simultaneously a symbol of the capital’s triumphant creative spirit. Within the grindy number she questions “why is the middle class so angry and ‘white bread’?” amid troubles like an oppressive, ignorant police force and lowered NHS funding.
It feels all the more biting in comparison to full opening track Dead On The Way Home, a full frontal 30-second piece referencing a devastating news story of young Brazilians being killed after a night out. Likewise, the only track sung fully in their native Portuguese, POBREZA É VIOLÊNCIA, translates to something like ‘POVERTY IS VIOLENCE’, a sad juxtaposition to the beauty of Brazilian culture that opens the record. The beach-side (and ironically titled) Are You Enjoying The Peaceful Skies? pays homage to ‘70s bossanova guitarist Chico Buarque, and even though confronting hard times back home, wonderfully reflects their own stamp on hardcore punk bands’ tradition of shining their personal culture through their music, like Bad Brains’ Rastafarianism or Dead Kennedys’ Californian surf.
Given the two-day approach to laying down these tracks, there’s certainly a rawness to it that could have been done with a little polish. Just Before Hell Comes Around feels like a 2003 No Doubt track from an alternate dimension, an apt idea fitting beachtown ska-punk, yet doesn’t come across quite right, with other songs zipping past without standout moments to warrant their inclusion. Still, this is a record Fantazmaz clearly wrote to be urgent, and urgent it is—you feel the grit, sweat and fury as if you were in the room, warts and all, and that outlet is something everyone desperately needs. More and more with each passing day.
For fans of: Drain, Rancid, Scowl
‘Fantazmaz’ by Fantazmaz is released on 4th July on Ghetto Bitch Records.
Words by Elliot Burr
