Home > audiofiles

Anthems for the young and the resilient
By Megan Carneal
mcarneal@mscd.edu

Photo courtesy of sosrecords.us Apparently there is a one-word name requirement to join the band. From left, Resilience are Fury, Dave, Johnny, Spyte and Stoney.

In a tour with influential headliners that date back to the early ’80s, the only way to really be recognized and respected is Resilience.

Resilience began in California in 1999. Once they started doing local gigs, their subculture fame exploded. They have headlined a few tours on their own but are still mainly an opening act for larger shows. However, as one of the most forceful live bands in modern punk, they command just as much respect as the headliners.

The British Are Coming is the result of national interest in the popular – and now banned from a good fraction of California’s cities and suburbs – British Invasion tour. Resilience will be one of four opening acts. Headlining the event will be the ironically not British, but Scottish, sensations the Exploited. Taking the second spot on the bill is the American and politically opinionated Final Conflict. Psychobilly act Phantom Rockers are actually the only British band performing, but don’t blame the promoters, SOS records; they’ve got to get the attention of some of the most notoriously ADD children ever.

The reason Resilience has been able to set themselves apart and not get lost on concert bills featuring huge acts is the pure ferocity they present. On the two albums they have produced, Never Give In and Sound of Strength, every song, no matter the tempo or message, is worthy of the “anthem” title. Their tracks almost give off an instinctual feeling to cover one’s heart with their right hand and pledge a ’til death allegiance.

They use an excessively fast mix of street punk with the traditional catchiness of oi, and create a relentless style that assaults as much as it unifies.

As sporting events have demonstrated over time, anthems have more power when they are performed live, and Resilience proves the point. Their studio albums alone are commanding enough to instigate spontaneous fist-shaking, but when delivered to a sweaty pit with a hundred or so other fists, the effect is immediate and uncontrolled.