The first song, “Hearts on Fire,” by Knucklehead starts straight into a sing along in the vein of Social Distortion and Rancid. It deals with the political situation in Burma, is pretty catchy, and definitely carries a solid beat. The second song, “Sense and Politics” is about politics, and makes no sense. “I don’t know what the issue is, there ain’t no sense in politics.” When you don’t know about something, it makes no sense. I’m enlightened. Hostage Life first presents us with “ratlines,” which is very reminiscent of pre-Al Barr Dropkick Murphys. It had me all pumped up, which cause me to read ahead through the lyrics of “Young Aryans,” a track about vanity and plastic surgery. Major letdown. A cheesy pop punk song. If there is a unifying trait on this 7” it’s that the first track on both sides is solid, but both of the second tracks lack substance.
–Rene Navarro (Longshot)