Local punk-ska septet Magnificent 7 launched their debut EP The Good, The Bad and The Drunk in January this year, suitably featuring seven windows into their sound equally designed to make you dance and think.

By Graeme Smith

For a relatively new band to the York music scene, Magnificent 7 have amassed an impressive following. It’s hardly surprising when you see them live. They fill the stage with not only bodies but presence and their upbeat sets always leave the audience sweating from skanking and with smiles on their faces. How would this translate to a recording?

Track one on The Good, The Bad and The Drunk is Johnny Doesn’t Know, an Ian Dury-esque exploration of life on the bottom rung of British society. The social message hits hard and briefly overwhelms the band’s dance-your-cares-away image.

This is quickly forgotten as soon as the relentless beat of The Seven Are Calling You Out kicks in, however, and lost in a drunken haze somewhere beyond the intro of One For The Road. Such is life.

The bleakness of Hard Times arrives like the morning after and its glass-half-empty message is juxtaposed by a reggae beat. Stand Up shakes off the apathy and the defiant tone carries through to Welfare Is A State. The EP closes with Haemophilia, a cry out for something new, and the vicious circle of life is complete.

In true punk style, The Good, The Bad and The Drunk crams a hell of a lot into its 20-odd minutes and every track is arguably an anthem of its own. Magnificent 7’s debut must be held up as an exemplar of recent, local releases and we’d implore everyone to put their hand in their pocket and pick up a copy.

The Good, The Bad and The Drunk by Magnificent 7 is available now via Bandcamp