The Dissidents/D.O.V.E. – A Higher World
LP | CD | DL | Streaming
Out 19 Sept 2025 obtainable right here
The most recent Develop Your Personal is a lesson from America in how one can write nice catchy melodic fashionable anarcho-punk with ladies enjoying a number one position. It additionally sends out a beacon of hope in these darkish instances, says Nathan Brown.
Already being acquainted with The Dissidents by way of their cut up EP with Vitriolic Response and D.O.V.E. by way of their album on Develop Your Personal, I’d have put cash on this being a fantastic launch. I’d have been quids in, as a result of it’s shiny and refreshing, and whereas the album offers lyrically with a number of the negatives of society it places ahead an agenda for change. Develop Your Personal preserve delivering high quality releases and in bringing collectively two bands from reverse coasts of the USA, they’ve delivered up a lesson in how one can write nice anarcho-punk tunes led by womens’ voices.
The very first thing that strikes you about The Dissidents from Philadelphia is that they’ve a punishing rhythm part that pushes into the crimson. A double guitar assault switches between waves of energy and a knitted melodic patchwork of arpeggios that floats over you. There’s additionally sometimes some keyboards simply so as to add to the environment. This full sound backs up three ladies’s voices with so much to say. The majority of the songs are variations on a theme in regards to the state of their homeland because it slides nearer to the abyss, calling for a greater world.
Though a band in their very own proper, The Dissidents have a advantageous pedigree. Amongst their quantity is Invoice from The Pist, Mankind? Behind Enemy Traces and a bunch of different bands – who sadly handed away in July of this 12 months. The band additionally options Janine and Nicole from Witch Hunt.
No Air is a type of anthemic kind songs that builds and builds, growing right into a wall of sound. Similar to the type of US bands of outdated like Defiance, and The Pist. The chanted vocals “No Justice No Air” make for a fantastic singalong second in a robust opening salvo.
Swamp Music is way extra melodic, as are the remainder of The Dissidents’ songs on this launch. The wavering vocal melodies, and even a number of the underlying tunes, carry a touch of outdated people songs. The best way the vocal melodies work with the tune just isn’t dissimilar to Oregon anarcho-punks of yesteryear Harum Scarum.
Rampaging bass and drums lead the fray on Damned Nation whereas cheeky lead guitar breaks introduce every verse. The shared vocals on the refrain once more work to actually good impact. Historical past Repeats retains up the tempo and the repeated line “Historical past Repeats” with vocal strains slicing throughout it’s actually efficient.
The defiance of Twisted Cell within the face of well being problems sounds out the message “You’ll be able to’t kill me” with one other catchy chant on high of a catchy refrain. The Dissidents know how one can write a tune.
A.C.A.C. – All Cops Are…Culpable, not the C phrase you have been pondering of! Whereas there’s a tongue in cheek nod to the extra sweary connotation, The Dissidents are making a critical level in regards to the murderous actions of the cops within the USA. The important thing message “No good cops in a racist system” makes it clear that it’s not simply particular person aberration or a number of rotten apples spoiling the barrel that ends in racist murders by cops. The issue is systemic. Sound acquainted?
Sinister Transmissions dismantles doubtful conspiracy theories, stating that there’s sufficient actual shit to be terrified of: “You’ll be able to’t make up how dangerous issues are. What greed evokes is worse by far”. I completely get the place that is coming from. Wild conspiracy theories present such a smokescreen that when an actual conspiracy of silence or cowl up is revealed it’s simpler for the powers that be to dismiss it as “tin foil hat” conspiracy. The conspiracy theorists create the situations for actual conspiracies to be smuggled by way of in plain sight.
The ultimate tune from The Dissidents, Countless Battle, seems to a optimistic future when the cycle of violence – in Palestine specifically – may be damaged. It’s a shifting tune. Already poignant with the Arabic studying of the poem “The Deluge and the Tree”, it was additionally destined to be the final tune from Invoice Chamberlain. A heartbreaking but optimistic Fb message additionally shared on Bandcamp from Rachel, The Dissidents singer/keyboard player and Bill’s wife, sets out her loss but also celebrates Endless War – what would be his last song. Please take the time to read it.
Listen to Endless War by The Dissidents
Grow Your Own have given us a great recording from The Dissidents. While it is a sad reminder what the punk scene lost when Bill died earlier this year, it’s also a celebration of what he excelled at. His work proliferates among mine and many other people’s record collections but if this had been his only release it would have been a fine legacy.
Yet there is more! As a stand alone release this would have been worth shouting from the rooftops about, but the flip side by D.O.V.E. is a fitting partner.
D.O.V.E. start off with a heavy damped guitar and pounding drums, a little heavier than I was expecting. The somewhat echoey guitar also picks out single note solos and in places is quite tinny giving this a bit of the DIRT sound. As Beyond Speciesism (the title tells you what it is about) develops the guitar becomes more jagged and also reminds me of 80s Bournemouth punks Mad Are Sane among others.
Possession is a fast shouty punky street punk number which is stylistically not dissimilar to The Dissidents No Air. Pounding drums slow down for an atmospheric chorus with echo on the vocals as well as the guitar before speeding up again for the next verse, focusing on the desire of man to control the natural world and human beings.
The wish for a more natural world (“Out of concrete flowers bloom”) continues with (A) Garden and has a dose of Siouxsie and the Banshees aesthetic, as I remarked on their 2023 album (a few copies still available so grab one while you can). It’s there in the rumbling roaming rhythm section, the vocals and the washy arpeggio guitar. There is also a touch of some of the more melodic 80s anarcho bands who dabbled in post-punk.
The surfy guitar, rumbling toms and wavering vocal of Wind Of Revolution draws on the Californian DNA of the band. I’m hearing a 60s and 70s vibe, and to be honest the whole idea of a revolution blowing in fits with that counter-cultural period (Blowing In The Wind, anyone?). A snatch of a speech from a protest closes this number, drawing connections between attacks in Palestine and arms dealers.
The song D.O.V.E. stands as a reminder that small individual acts do make a difference. Starting melancholy and slow, with the bass providing the backbone, this tune washes over you sounding sad or resigned to fate but then builds into something more upbeat and exuberant which sounds more hopeful. The melodic yet upbeat, occasionally frantic, approach has me thinking of Zounds at their best. The “love over hate” message is in tune with the Zounds vibe as well, alongside Omega Tribe with whom D.O.V.E. toured down the West Coast. And what does D.O.V.E. stand for? It’s revealed in the last line: “Destroying Oppression and Violence Everywhere”.
Another melodic number reminiscent of Zounds and Omega Tribe, Peace by Piece, is a slow burner. It fades to closes the album on a peaceful note and the spoken vocal speaks to the idea that lots of small acts build into a wave or wind of change. In this case the metaphor is a whisper growing into a vibration. On this occasion D.O.V.E. stands for “Destroy Oppression, Visualise Empathy.”
Kicking off with the rambunctious Dissidents and closing on the peaceful D.O.V.E. this album has been a joy to listen to and has held up my reviewing schedule with all its repeated plays.
While the bands have somewhat different approaches, they fit well together. By virtue of their sound as well as their message, both fit within the broad anarcho-punk family but with their own style. The shared meta-message across the songs laid out on the lyric sheet is that a better world is possible. The poster that comes with this release underlines this message. It puts billionaire handshakes over factory farms and a scene of bombed landscape with the straightforward question “Will you watch history repeat or fight for a better world?”. Well, will you?
Available to buy or stream from Grow Your Own
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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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