Sick Of It All were a hardcore band formed in 1985 by the brothers Pete (guitar) and Lou (vocals) Koller. Blood Sweat And No Tears (In-Effect, 1989) announced one of the most virulent sounds of the new wave. Songs like My Revenge World Full Of Hate and Disillusion strictly follow the codes of punk nihilism.

After the EP We Stand Alone (In-Effect, 1991), with the title track and What's Going On, and the album Just Look Around (Relativity, 1992), with another epic invective, We Want The Truth, the band became more commercial starting with Scratch The Surface (EastWest, 1994) and melodic (but no less supersonic) tracks like Step Down, alongside more controlled bangers such as Goatless, Ceasefire and Insurrection.

Heirs to the New York hardcore tradition, Sick Of It All arrived at their fourth album, Built To Last (Elektra, 1997), with no substantial innovations. Theirs is a mature, tough, fast and compact style, representing the best the genre has ever offered. The problem is that almost nothing manages to excite. Everything is exactly as it should be, but perhaps it is also too predictable. Us Vs Them is the generational anthem of the moment, shouted with a hoarse voice and counterpointed by the chorus. The fury of Laughingstock and One Step Ahead has something artificial about it, as if someone had written a score for this bastard street music that was supposed to rebel against everything and everyone.

Call To Arms (Fat Wreck, 1999) and Yours Truly (Fat Wreck, 2000) brought back the anger of the early days, but the songs are shapeless. On the latter, the band is far more effective when it packs high-intensity rage, as in Blown Away, than when it indulges in its polemical stance (Disco Sucks Fuck Everything, Hello Pricks).

Life On The Ropes (Fat Wreck, 2003) is even more exuberant in its hardcore passion but the problem remains that only a few songs (Relentless, Trenches) are worthy of their fame. If they had collected the best of the last three albums on just one album, it would have been a genre's milestone.

Death To Tyrants (2006) remained true to their spirit and their style, but had little to offer to the new generations.