"IRRITANT is going to be the next big thing". Well, that's what their press release says anyway. Theirs is a blend metal nu and old school that rocks, screeches and thrashes its way through your loudspeakers. They are, to put it simply, totally bogus, dudes.

Smelly People:

You may remember that Irritant blazed their way onto the BBC Gloucestershire music pages several months back. They named themselves after a warning on a can of deodorant and promised to keep up a stink.

Since then things have been a little quiet on the Irritant front, but now it seems they are ready to launch a second front upon the unsuspecting people of Gloucestershire. You have been warned: ear plugs may now be required.

Not Dylan:

On the six track E.P., "Rock Till You Drop". Irritant prove themselves to be highly competent musicians. Where they lose brownie points, however, is in their lyrics.

This is a problem a lot of bands face. Not everyone can be Bob Dylan. This much is true. Unfortunately, thanks in part to His Almighty Dylan-ness, musicians feel they must produce words for every single tune they produce.

The New (Metal) Shadows?

Irritant are not particular bad song writers. As a reviewer of local music, I have certainly heard a lot worse. The problem is that you know they'd rather be making a lot of noise with their guitars rather sitting at a desk, producing a beautiful libretto.

It is, then, refreshing to hear that the fifth track on the Irritant E.P. is an instrumental track of pure metallicism. The band escapes the confines of lyric writing (generally a tirade of angry complaints about individuals, organisations and governments) and allow all the rage, anger and energy to flow, unhindered through to its purest, wordless form.

This is where the band are most at home. You can see it here and in the extended solos and instrumental sections of other tracks, particularly five or six minutes into Track 3.

Not So Scentless Apprentices:

Where Irritant are not being Totally Bogus, they owe a great deal to Nirvana and friends. The stock Grunge trait of starting quiet and whacking the volume up somewhere past 11 is used well here, particularly on the last track.

The finale rapidly develops from its tender beginnings into something of a war cry/demonic chant as the entire band bellows: "YOU DO NOT OWN ME!" The lyric reflects much of what has gone before: complaints about clue-less authority figures and uncaring politicians, but in just those five words, you really feel like they mean it.

Getting to the Top:

But tonight's star prize of a can of deodorant goes to a song found half way through the E.P. It's got everything: a scorching hot lead guitar, a chugging nu-metal riff and antiestablishment lyrics that aren't too bad at all.

"It's a one way relationship/now you've gotten to the top/and you're never coming down" groans the Adam, the lead singer, before lamenting "broken promises" and being forced to "wash away our tears with the blood of our fractured lives". It may sound a little melodramatic, but that's what these songs are all about.

Next But One to the Next Big Thing:

Irritant may not be the next best thing just yet. It will be a while before you see them gracing the front covers of the Rock/Metal titles in your local corner shop. In the meantime, let's hope they continue to rock till they drop - and hopefully in a place where we can all see them do it.

02/06/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire on this link