Followship’s “Violet Teenage Violence” Album Review

A full-powered package of passion and progressive goodness, RVA-based post-hardcore outfit Followship hold absolutely nothing back with their debut release, “Violet Teenage Violence.”

While this album is fast-approaching its one-year anniversary since its highly anticipated release on August 20th, 2021, (if you knew, you knew; at least on a local and somewhat regional scale, a lot of us were waiting a good while for this one to drop…) I was surprised that I couldn’t find a whole lot of review or coverage even on other DIY or underground sites or blogs elsewhere, at least not based on a google search or two. As such, I feel this band has been done a bit of a disservice in the press realm and even though I may be friends with each member, I promise this review separates personal ties and is written as unbiased as anything else I’d pen down here.

I offer nothing short of honesty; No clickbait bullshit, no “paid $$$ to write this way or that way,” no “oh man I need a story to grow my audience!!!” Obviously, I’d LOVE to make money off doing this and of course knowing people read it is a huge plus and a big part of what I want to achieve here - spreading the word of as much music as possible, for better or worse, no matter what “score” I give it. But regardless, I feel it is my obligation to maintain transparency and judge every work I review based on 100% merit and actual, real-time feelings towards the content before anything else, and without any disingenuous ass-kissing of any kind. So, please, always bear that in mind whenever you read ANYTHING I post here.

Anyway, all that preachy shit aside, let’s talk “Violet Teenage Violence” !!!!!

(Photo of band by Sebastian Clarke)

There’s a lot to digest here.

Let’s begin with the opening tracks, “Standing Still” and “The Revolution Might Be Televised After All.” For the latter, if you follow Spaceuntravel on YouTube at all, or even have any relevant hashtags or targeting to the Ship Bois on Instagram, it’s likely you saw snippets or the entirety of their music video directed and filmed by Cody Mausolf with TLP Films. The band certainly did it right with their promotional package of this fiery single and Cody’s work on making them look awesome in aforementioned music video only enhanced the audible power behind this track. As such, these two songs serve as unquestionably one of the best opening sequences to an album I’ve ever heard, and if you don’t agree - shut up.

I think the only other time I’ve gotten goosebumps like this from an opening track that flowed right into the proceeding “first song” upon initial listen was maybe with Strapping Young Lad’s “Velvet Kevorkian” into “All Hail the New Flesh” from their 1997 release, “City.” Probably a bold statement and comparison, but remember - my opinion, and I know what I like. I’m also in no way comparing the two bands, simply relating that clearly both know how the fuck to open a metal record. Followship are truly winners in this aspect.

But wait, there’s more!

The rest of the album remains as unrelenting, upbeat, high-energy, and just totally messed up as this opener set the stage, probably even more-so as the album progresses. Tracks following, “Call Me Ishmael,” “NuGods,” and “Tolerance As A Vice” (a personal favorite) easily highlight virtually everything we all love about metal music with an emotional tinge. Ripping guitars, beautiful solos, soaring vocals both harsh and clean, and intricate, odd-timed drumming that matches heart palpitations; A sense of nostalgia is embedded in this record. A time when buying physical CD’s was one of the most exciting and anticipating moments of any music lover’s life, when their favorite band just had physical copies available and you couldn’t wait to hit that local record store in the mall or shopping center to grab your copy and listen ASAP. But, as much as Followship send those nostalgic shivers down your spine, they still manage to rise above their influences with their very own flavor and pizazz from song to song.

The only moment you get to slow down and take a breath, sort of, on this 9-song onslaught is when you hit track 6, “Like Hot Water Filling Paper Lungs.” Until we arrive at this only mildly peaceful. waltzy song…we get the riffy savagery and proggy pulverizing prowess and familiarity of acts such as Coheed and Cambria, The Mars Volta, The Fall of Troy, Glassjaw, and I even hear some Protest the Hero and Every Time I Die-esque moments in some places, even if maybe on a more watered-down scale. Once we hit this dancey bop that borderlines a ballad, I feel thrown back to hints of Saturday Night Wrist-era Deftones, which is especially felt during the bridge portion of this song, with a chunkier chord progression making your head sway calmly as you jump on your longboard, crack open your Arizona Green Tea, and ride down the sidewalk; Be calm, my child, it is still 1998, your Jnco Pants just came out the wash, and your favorite block on MTV is coming on at 7:00 PM when you get home from riding with your best friends. Life is good.

The only other time we get anything like this is with the real Pina Colada-sipper closing track, “Beauty Sleep.” Another song that borders on ballad territory, this one still has enough there to be as much of a jumpy bop as it is a cool, vibey, “get a bunch of friends and some beers together on the tailgate of your bronco and watch the sunset on the beach together around a fire” type of piece. I feel like this song is going to end up in some Netflix original horror movie during a scene when all the college douchebags are on Spring Break at the beach and it plays over an establishing shot of general angsty debauchery and fratboy behaviors of anyone’s guess, only leading up to the reveal of the killer stalking them patiently, waiting for the precise moment to strike. Then that’s what everyone’s going to know Followship for - The Netflix Band. “Oh yeah they had that one song in Miami Slaughter League on Netflix! They’re super cool! Sounds like a mathy Sublime! Are they playing Coachella this year???” Then, hopefully, they’ll look ‘em up and check out the whole album and see how awfully unprepared they were for what Followship are really about. But who knows! (You heard it here first…)

(Photo by Derek Odom from Followship / Asylum 213 tour live show at Troy Speakeasy in Troy, NY 2/18/22)

So overall, I think the only thing keeping this record from having a perfect “10/10” score for me is just that I hate this band. They’re so good it pisses me off. I’m big jealous.

On a serious note…

There’s not much missing from this record at all. It wears its influences on its shoulders, yet still manages to separate itself from the crowd. The question is, with such a strong debut under their belt, how will Followship follow up to this? I can’t find any necessarily weak moments in this record apart from maybe how a song or two feel as if they blend in only mildly, mostly due to being exhibitions of influences and a pretty straightforward riff x hook x riff x hook x bridge x solo x alternate riff variation x hook format in songstructure. So even with its unique flavor, perhaps the experimentation factor might not go as ”out of bounds” as some might hope or expect.

Still, even if you don’t hear anything terribly outside the box or innovative in this record, you WILL hear vocalist Devin Hatcher’s insanely dynamic range, guitarists Dylan Edwards and Benjamin Pilch’s endlessly punishing and wailing riffage as well as harmonized licks and blazing solos, bassist Cameron Hatcher’s unreal moments of tappy spotlights as well as norm-defying bass licks and chords of his own, and of course drummer Spencer Hughe’s relentless, ragtime dandies and pulsing beats from start to finish…with enough blasts to make Frank Reynolds jealous. That’s more than enough to give this one at least a spin or two. The chemistry in this band is, beyond well-written and professionally recorded quality music of course, what really makes the band something special. Don’t just listen to ”Violet Teenage Violence” on record and think you understand all there is to know about Followship; Go see them live, lose yourself in the same spirit these dudes captured on tape in high-def audio quality. We can only await patiently and see how much power they’ll punch us in the face (and hearts) with on the next release! Rumor has it that they may already even be working on that…

9/10. It’s very loud and definitely musical.

Ship yourself some more info and Follow (horrible puns ahoy!) everything Followship at this link: https://linktr.ee/followshipband