At first listen, this record stands out as OBVIOUSLY British, and not in a good way. It’s Street Punk in the vein of drinking songs and chant along, um, huh, well, anthems? The lyrics are boring and all over the place. The guitar riffs are rudimentary at best. The bass line is thick and disgusting and I think the drummer had to of been drunk. Street Punk music is just so predictable nowadays. Bomber jackets, mowhawks, dog chains and everybody’s got a pint in their hand etc. Is there a “Punk” manual complete with checklists and pictures out there that I don’t know about? Are there still Gutter Punks in the world?

From the songs I get this—Hotwired only care about drinking (heavily) and dropping the “f” bomb in “Guinness” Book worthy amounts. Did you get the joke? Because I sure haven’t. The dull, back and forth, small scale vocals and riffs bore me to tears and don’t motivate you at all. Which is what I thought “Street Punk” was supposed to do. Maybe these guys are too old to get the joke too but I think they would be better suited playing a weekly in some shit town at some shit pub to a bunch of shit punters. At least then people like me wouldn’t be there to piss on the party and the ones who were “lucky” enough to be there would be far too drunk to give a shit if the band was good or not.

HOTWIRED doesn’t grab the bull by the horns and doesn’t do anything to further the cause of Street Punk Music. If you were to Google “Street Punk U.K.” you would find dozens of bands that are doing a far better job in this realm of music. I enjoy some street punk but “make it count” came off lazy and non-serious.

One thing I haven’t addressed is the overwhelming tone of the “Skinhead” on this record. To this day I haven’t met a skinhead that I’ve liked and it will most likely stay that way. It all seems so self-indulgent with the mob mentality and justifiable acts of crime & violence. Whatever. You try talking sense into a skinhead, see where it gets you. I’m not saying this band is a skinhead band but let’s just say they probably don’t do too bad in that market.

The record seems to be self released and the layout is favorable, although the artwork could have used a second opinion. In the end “Make It Count” falls flat on the street like a day old drunk punk staggering home to check his email. Give em the keys already cause HOTWIRED is bugging the shit out of me.

Ahoy!

Ryan Rude