Violent Delight - Secret Smile

Violent Delight - Secret Smile / Shattered / Teenage Moron (WEA 354 CD)

Steve Jones's latest production venture. This young Brit-band have a lot in common with the US thrash punk bands, the tracks being particularly reminiscent of the Cyco Miko album Steve was involved with in the mid-Nineties.

The opening track begins with a belch before launching into stop-start hundred mile an hour speed punk. It's commendable if unspectacular. In its favour, after a few listens Secret Smile is catchy enough and powerful enough, ("show me your secret smile, why do you hide it away from me, is it that you don't trust me, or am I just too fucking ugly?").
Shattered ("if we were all the same, would your dreams be shattered?") is more varied with subtle tune and growled vocal. The problem with a lot of this genre is being able to tell similar groups apart. This I feel applies to Violent Delight.

However Violent Delight (or VD as they like to be known), have youth on their side and celebrate the fact with the self depreciating Teenage Moron ("I sit here all day thinking I know what's going on, but in the end I'm just another teenage moron"). There will always be a market for teenage angst, but will this be enough to stay the course? It goes without saying that Steve's production ensures great sounding guitars plus a layered sound usually missing from this style of music. There's also some nice sound-effects woven into Secret Smile.

Warner Brothers were certainly impressed with the results, so the Violent Delight/Steve Jones team-up is unlikely to be over. Let's hope that between them, VD rise above the pack of similar sounding groups. Developments are awaited with keen interest.

Review by Phil Singleton
October 2002

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