The Threats

God Is Not With Us Today

[3/5] Some bands do it for the right reasons. While pampered playboys play goth dress-up and wear prop guitars, other rougher-hewn stock slog it out in the pubs with nary a concern for the gilded limelight. Consider the Scottish-born Threats. They’re four regular Joes banging out quick punk rock songs as if Sid never bought the farm and ’77 lasted forever. They’ve flown low on punk history’s radar for nearly 30 years; their newest record distills three decades of punk camaraderie into a dozen-plus plucky blasts. Most songs stick to a rollicking, mid-paced platform with Oi!-fueled sing-along choruses, including “Rotten,” “Greedy” and “Iron Maiden” (not related to the band). Vocalist Jim Smith shouts with an atypical flow of clarity, fairly reminiscent of Agent Orange. And while these blokes aren’t reinventing the wheel, they’re having a good time rolling out the old ones. (DR. STRANGE) Casey Boland