Big Noter’s Identity: Rage Against the Machine Moves Down Under

Briggs is an extremly talented artist who is like a shark and is not physiclly able to sit still. Amongst his solo career, running his record label (Bad Apples), guesting on tracks with Troy Cassar-Daley and making music with Trials as A.B. Original, Briggs still has time for another side project. This sees him team up with old Rage Against Machine engineer Nick Didia. Briggs describes this track as a throwback to his younger days as a punk / metal fan. Let’s see if he can pull it off.

Nick Didia’s influence is immediately felt in some fire guitar riffs. Identity follows that tried an true Rage Against the Machine formula, which was a dash of straight-edge punk over metal guitar riffs and hip hop beats. This magic potion seems a bit unruly on the surface, but was a powerful intoxicant if wielded by a talented band that could pull it off. Rage, with Zack’s punk background and Tom’s natural guitar flair, was the perfect band to pull this off. For Big Noter, Nick is bringing that punk / metal energy in spades with an arrangement very similar to Rage’s track Bombtrack. When I say similar I don’t mean it in a tired recycled way, but in an inspired and fresh kind of way. Now that Nick has brought the music, can Briggs live up to his end of the bargain?

In short, hell yeah! But, let’s take a deeper look. Briggs is bringing his best Henry Rollins vocal as he belts out bars full of power and rage. However, Briggs still has his hip hop sensibility with how bars are constructed and his overall delivery. His vocal is a great mix of both punk and hip hop, which is essential for this genre bending track to come off. Lyrically, Briggs is a perfect fit for this Rage inspired bottle of napalm. His politically charged bars about racism, the government, culture and the destructive nature of capitalism fits right in. Identity explores the intersection of race and culture and how one’s identity can be weaponised by the government. These themes are central to Big Noter’s genre of music and themes Briggs talks about with depth and passion.

On the surface, you could see Big Noter as a Rage Against the Machine fanboy taking a vacation in Australia. However, this is far too simplistic and neglects Briggs’ vast lyrical and musical talent. He seamlessly slides into the hip hop / punk genre popularised in the 90s, but really only pulled off by Rage. Most importantly, Big Noter does not come off as empty nostalgia, but as an inspired band with fresh music and lyrics that surgically deconstruct current political and social issues. This is an interesting project I am excited to hear more from in the future.

Listen to Identity