To an outside perspective, the British Isles have been in a perpetual state of limbo in regards to the ongoing class wars that have ravaged some of the poorest areas of the country. This continuous strife has established such a distrustful attitude towards the establishment as a whole, due to the disgraceful treatment of some of the poorest in society, whose struggle has been amounted to nothing more than a game of political football at the hands of the ruling party. Flying the flag for the working class heroes, 13 Crowes‘ staunch anti-establishment rhetoric can be mistaken for an almost call to arms of downtrodden masses; its distinct voice of reason free from bureaucratic brainwashing, is possibly as raw and punchy as the pioneers of the Punk and Shock Rock movements of the 70’s and 80’s. Although its purpose can be held within the realms of overwhelming disruption up against the power hungry and self-righteous upper echelon; the bands new record Solway Star’s appeal to wider audiences may stagger due to the lead singers rather overpowering vocals, which can leave many scratching their heads in a quest to decipher the lyrical content without assistance. The biggest stand outs amongst a mountain of pure ferocity, comes in the form of ‘Dying Breed’ with its overall essence capable of building to a momentous pit of undeniable frustration in time with what feels like a continuous gun salute. As well as ‘Romantically Broke’ which harbours some up-tempo ‘The Gallow is God’ by The Distillers vibes – as the poeticised lyrics dissect the life of a fellow working class lad, while making an extremely clean cut attack against the most Privileged in society; mostly via threatening them with arson, but it’s a clear message all the same. As much as their efforts are noble and their subject matter is intriguing and extremely topical, especially in the political minefield we Brits have been subjected to due to Brexit, it seems the magic behind 13 Crowes heartfelt declarations seems to fall flat on some tracks.There’s a regrettable amount of repetition through Solway Star too, which when coupled with its intent often getting lost in translation due to the bands lead singer’s raspy and growl-like sensibility results in a record that will be looked back at as a ‘what could have been’. Score: 6/10 Facebook:/13crowes