One Fall - Spine First!
Photo by Coleman Rogers Photography Last year One Fall won us over with their self-titled EP, and this spring they blew us away when they won the 2023 Rock & Roll Rumble. Now the Salem, MA punks are back with Spine First! a new EP that's blowing us away all over again. Once "Rage/Quit" starts, you'll know if One Fall are for you. (Spoiler: They are.) It's this burst of fast, thrashy punk rock with some of the most killer melodies around. Part of the appeal is singer/guitarist Helen McWilliams. She's one of the most engaging performers in Boston these days, and her pure charisma is more apparent on Spine First! than it was on the previous EP. A song like "Surrounder" is as heavy as it is catchy and melodic. It even has a fantastic metal guitar solo, which seems to come out of nowhere but makes perfect sense. And then that is followed by what might be the best breakdown of the past two decades. I think that's the appeal of a band like One Fall...