Dropping Bombs: Dropping Bombs
(Distro-y)
LP | DL
Out 13 March 2026
Nathan Brown praises a posthumous release of a punchy melodic hardcore album by Dublin band Dropping Bombs that would have been an instant classic and still sounds fresh and uplifting despite the serious messages it conveys.
TLDR? Nearly 2 years ago I gave this a pithy one paragraph pre-review so you’ll find the following words I wrote on the Distrotable page for this release “A turn of the century hardcore sound with lots of chug in these twisty turny stoppy starty complex tunes. Treading a line between pop punk and crust, with hard hitting yet poetic political lyrics, they channel bands like Econochrist or Avail. Imagine if Strike Anywhere had come from Dublin.” That was the summary and I stand by it. For the more in depth version read on.
This record has been a long time coming, but is well worth the wait. If it had been released at the time, 20 years ago, I think it would have been an instant classic. Irish label Distro-y have done a great job in making sure it’s seen the light of day. I recall Dropping Bombs from a gig in Camden in December 2013 and despite appearing alongside heavy hitters like Subhumans, Conflict and Liberty, they turned my head – along with those of the rest of the crowd.
Dropping Bombs have a hardcore sound that was prevalent in the first decade of this century. There’s is lots of chug and leading guitar lines with plenty of cheeky bouncy bass lines to keep you engaged. The drums switch between a satisfying slap and a frantic manic workout. The gruff shouty vocals are punctuated by the music, or is it the other way round? They break into tune here and there with the odd bit of harmonising. What you get is a tight performance of complex tunes with stops, starts, twists, turns and lots of momentum. It’s hard to believe there are only 3 members in the band.
This reminds me a lot of my favourite Propagandhi release (also 3 members) – the “I’d Rather Be Flag Burning” split 10” they did with I-Spy that bridges the gap between their first 2 albums. It’s partly the sound and partly the sheer ebullience emanating from the record player. Anger is part of the fuel. They also channel other bands like Econochrist, Avail and Strike Anywhere to come up with an infectious uplifting sound.
The epic 11 and a half minutes Common Loss goes through so many phases that it is more like a symphony than a song, but to my ears To Hell is the real winner with it’s no-holds-barred message:
“A perfect example of corporate greed,
they’d poison the earth, poison the sea,
poison the families with toxins released –
for outside their front door the pipeline will bleed
billions of euros that’ well never see,
natural resources given for free.
Fuck Off Big Oil, Get the fuck out to sea”
Listen to To Hell by Dropping Bombs
The general theme of the lyrics throughout covers humanity’s negative impact on this planet and its inhabitants. Dropping Bombs dig beneath the surface. The all pervading actions of capitalism are a constant: stealing resources, poisoning the planet and creating a system that destroys humanity and environment. There are specifics about genetic modification to enable monetisation and control of food supplies (remember suicide seeds?), religion as a form of social control, political corruption, the murder of environmental activists like Ken Saro Wiwa, war and more destruction. Even the cover art is intelligent and pointed, demonstrating the relationships between the worlds 1318 largest companies and the flow of money and control between them.
Fast, furious, tuneful yet punchy and pounding. The term melodic hardcore has never been a more apt description.
Another great release from Distro-y.
~
All words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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