Gimp Fist
“Your Time Has Come”
By Jillian Abbene
(SugarBuzz Wash DC/Baltimore)
SugarBuzz Magazine
Although younger bucks, Gimp Fist has the maturity, intent, and spirit that are beyond their years. Their musical structure is as solid as the more associated big Oi! guns they support. Bands such as UK Subs, Last Resort, Millions of Dead Cops, Angelic Upstarts, and Keyside Strike give an impressive raised eyebrow despite their early beginnings.
Better yet—their newest CD, “Your Time Has Come,” supersedes even their past releases. With more surgance, and more cohesive melody structure, there’s an emotive element—not just barky angst. Big claps to the lead vocalist Johnny, for developing a more defined vocal (in comparison to his tunes over the past couple of years.) Heavily influenced by The Clash, The Ramones, Cockney Rejects, The 4 Skins, Argy Bargy, Desmond Decker and Pressure Point, it’s all wrapped up in Oi—with just a throw of street punk without losing their own identifiable sound. With that, it is convincing and catchy.
You can’t get more real that the first song, “Fighting To Survive,” that starts with an amped squeal before quickly surging into pulsating three-chorded guitar. Jumping right in, Johnny belts out clean verses. You can make out the first bar in the beefed-up chorus by the backup vocals. Even syncopations land on the drum/cymbal combo-crashes as the M8 approaches into an all-contained precise guitar riff, closing out with one guitar sear just in time for the second verse. The triplicate drums after each line gives that extra little kick in the ass of the mighty surge that ends in a repeat chorus croon.
Written about what’s important, their next song, “Working Class,” has roots embedded within their lyrics. Chris opens with bass and carries the melody three bars in. Johnny and Jack Millward add guitar (Jack is an additional honorary Gimp member) emphasizes the chugs by throwing in a bit of rhythm guitar. Straight into the first verse, the cymbal crash and drum 
pounds between each verse pushes up against the cadence. The backups are more subtle in the crooning shouts as the guitar has longer chorded strums. Johnny’s raw vocals are dead-on croons while punctuated lyrics of, “…against the power and the greed,” match the quiffy M8. The lead riff cleans up in a slightly tinny guitar, all the while Johnny’s lead guitar screams in the background. The last few verses chuck in a bit more fervor, queuing up in urgency to be thrown into a sudden crash.
Ramones laddened, “Whatever Happened,” begins in accapella with faster cadenced guitar plucks. Johnny’s vocals are clear as the second verse adds substance to the rest of the bass-pulling beat leading right into the chorus. The bridge is a rock ‘n roll double-drum beat that fades back into the first verse repeat. Anticipated drum rolls give a leg up to a more shouted chorus. A nice mid-riff sets up the 2nd round of Johnny’s slight Joe Strummer influence vocal accapella that is exclamated in his shouts before colliding with harder drum-thuds rollicking into full-force rock ‘n roll guitar screams. Before winding down, Gimp Fist gets that last word in with Oi! Oi! shouts at the end.
This next song, ‘More War Stories,’ takes a break from the routine and is probably the best Clash-inspired song I’ve ever run across (in my humble opinion). It’s all in the raw. Drum ticks and guitar-melody plucks open in an even metered Ska beat. Although this song is the black sheep, there is a nostalgic flair to the Ska-toned strums. A jolted surge before the first verse adds a nice delinquent echo splitting the melody with harmonies on the, “La-La’s” within the chorus. The
bridge flashes a more simplistic guitar riff before the Ska beat rolls back into the second round of Argy Bargy influenced chorus harmonies. Veering off from the uncoiling guitar swells, the tune snaps back from the M8 to wrap up the final chorus echo.
“Skin Deep,” opens in accapella street punk complete with a catchy guitar melody. As the slamming earnest guitar and steady-beated cymbal crashes, Johnny’s textured raspy vocals are sharp against the guitar-threaded melody giving off a sense of happy disenfranchisement. As the chorus is crooned out with accompanied vocals by Big Neil Mortal and Stoney Strike from Keyside Strike, the vocals are culminated by the steady surge of guitar chords skipping a beat on the M8. Immediately after the belted growl, the guitar riff takes center stage before shooting off and allowing the bass plucks to end in a shabby chorus toss-up.
A filleted guitar-strummed melody intros into a quick chiseled syncopated snare beat in, “That Day Will Come.” Johnny gives a shouted and passionate stance on verse. With the call-and-response gang chorus, it methods in a regurgitated melody as the M8 breaks off into rollicking triple drum beats as it crashes its cymbals, and guitar melody expands to a blur at the end.
“Heart Full Of Pride,” is a very solid rendition from the original band, Perkele, that quietly accapellas in Johnny’s rasp. Guitar plucks crescendo with each verse, and high registered vocals on the last four words of each verse create once again, that emotive element. A really nice touch! Alongside the ascending crashes on beat, the song opens up for the gang chorus. Notably, the guitar riff in the middle seems as if it is part of the refrain, as it is an eased transition 
of beat-pound swells that brings in one more chorus-round. Pushing through the drum shuffles, guitar and bass underscores in beat-crashes leading to the anticipated finale at the end.
“This Is The Real World,” caps as the last song on the CD. As an opener, inserted is a recording of children shouting, “This is the real world!” intros into a smoother vocal melody as guitar glides above the slightly slower bass lines. Just as you think it’s an even cadence, the song begins to bang on every other beat. The guitar progressions swell into the M8, laying out equal thumps of drum pedal and drum triplicates crescendoeing into the second verse. Laminating the beat in tribal drums, a dub-over movie clip ends rather abruptly with a sense of finality.
Gimp Fist manages to keep the framework still intact throughout the entire CD. Although keeping in time with the Oi elements and gaining assistance from their friends, a fresh approach of street punk incorporated without the obvious blocked chopped sections, makes for a more tangible melody and for more noteworthy music writing. Here they stand next to the rest of the memorable crew in the Oi brew.