Do One formed in 2017, coming as part of the scene built around the now-infamous and long gone T Chances venue in Tottenham, North London. The band wanted to create something fast, hard and filled with Simpsons-based quotes. This element of silliness has always characterized the band who self proclaim as “banter-violence”. The members bring different influences to the table, Sam Bricket and James Campos come from the hardcore, powerviolence, anarcho/d-beat scene, the drummer Adam Hornsby, on top of mind blowing blast beats, he integrates a lot of doom and sludge tempo, while Jag Bahra writes riffs for days adding a polished thrash and 90s death metal sound. The mixed bag of slow and fast is exactly what distinguishes the band from others. During their live shows they manage to get the crust crowd involved, the grindcore heads, but also have plenty of space for groove and classic hardcore two-steps and side to side moves, this band has it all.
The vocal style of Sam Bricket is also almost unheard of, with high pitch scream, screeching and gruesome growl border-lining, someone could say, on black metal. However, he uses his voice in a completely different manner, always in sync with the rhythmic sessions, almost as serving as an instrument itself.
After two EPs and one single, the band went to record twelve tracks at the Cro’s Nest Studios with Sam Thredder (Slabdragger/Cthulhu Youth/Frightener), who captured the band’s sound in all its blasting glory, featuring tracks written between 2018 and 2023. Please Don’t Tell Anyone How I Live is what all their fans who religiously went to see them at live shows were waiting for, it encompasses the years of work of the band and also includes two features.
Photo Credit: Do One
‘So You’ve Ruined Your Life’ opens the ball and, in just one minute, it confirms everything that has just been said about Do One’s unique crossover of genres. The thrash riffs are followed by grind blast beats and vocals, next moving to a side to side breakdown, to then end on a blasting again. They just got your attention and here comes ‘Please Don’t Tell Anyone How I Live’, which utterly confuses you as it starts with Sum 41 ‘Fatlip’ riff to then flip to pure powerviolence chaos, everyone is playing incessantly in this one.
With the next two tracks, the album is ticking all the boxes of a classic grindcore record, with fast and gone blasting tunes, until: ‘Dilly Dally In The Sunshine Town’. The four minutes length of the song allows all the members to have their moment, starting with jumpy drumming and groovy guitars, to then switch to blast at the sound of a vocal squeal at one minute precisely. Everything is escalating until, two minutes on the clock again, the most classic thrash breakdown you heard in your life stomps in and hits so hard you wish it lasted forever, and it does! As the song continues with the same breakdown for the next two minutes and fades out taking this banger of a riff away with it.
Change of mood with ‘Churchill Downers’, the sludgiest of the tracks with vocals that just chime in hard and come down with everything else. ‘Punching Punx In The Dark’ could sound like it’s following the same path as the previous one, yet it quickly shifts into furious grind, death metal riffs and growls, this song sounds evil, until it again introduces some more funky riffs to make you dance. Never a dull day with Do One.
Up next is ‘Bleach Me’ one of their earliest and most popular tracks, which the band re-recorder adding Magdalene Campos vocals to the mix. This track sounds edgy and the raw and fresh female vocals blend perfectly with Bricket’s almost “feline” roars.
The album wraps up with a succession of three majestic tracks. ‘Trucker’s Choice’, the ant- TERFS slow and fast tune that discombobulates you; followed by Treading Water, a truly self loathing lyrics overlapping a very successful structure of slow beginning, a groovy middle section and a fast ending introduced by some real chunky bass and some of the catchiest riff we heard so far.
Lastly, ‘Rot’ , a stoner tune featuring singer of Poisonous Cunt, Amandine Braun, everything feels warm and welcoming to finish this album, until all it’s replaced by fast d-beat and the two singers facing each other on a battle of screams that leaves you at the end of this listen completely breathless.
May this well liked and respected band of the London crust scene find a whole new audience now that they are out in all the mainstream platform. Long live DIY, long live Poisonous Cunt and Do One.