You know when a band’s name really sums up what a band is about? That’s Fights and Fires. To see this Worcester based hardcore quartet live is to endure a maelstrom of beer, beards, and chaos.
Still, if you peel back the bravado of the bands metallic-hardcore riffs, Fights and Fires’ third full-length album, Live Life Like A Tourist, proves there’s a real honesty to the band that have made the them so likable since they kicked down the doors to the scene nearly a decade ago.
This is no more evident than on ‘Church Bells’, which disguises genuinely touching lyrics about love and marriage behind gravelly vocals and a mid-paced riff that practically forces you to nod your head. When vocalist Phillip Cox growls “I was so lost and then I found someone to take my name/How things have changed for me”, it’s hard for even the most seasoned crowd-killers to stop themselves from suddenly having something in their eye.
However, this maturity in their lyrical approach doesn’t mean that they’ve lost any of their spark. All 8 of the tracks on Live Life Like A Tourist sound custom built to cause disorder in small, sweaty rooms. Guitarist Ryan Price does a fantastic job of crafting no-bullshit riffs that instantly make you want to move. The lead single ‘Take a Swing at the World’ is a prime example of this, throwing shades of Pantera into their usual punk and hardcore concoction, creating a guaranteed pit-starter for anywhere Fights and Fires care to venture.
Live Life Like a Tourist is built on a foundation of pounding drums, riffs that never veer into the territory of self-indulgence, and lyrics that honestly deal with overcoming life’s trials and tribulations. It’s this simplicity in their approach that make Fights and Fires a great punk rock band. Live Life Like a Tourist is simply an infectious record, both in its hooks and its spirit, and it may be Fights and Fires’ finest outing yet.
