It’s hard enough as it is to pick a standout track from Freakazoid (Pure Noise Records). It’s even harder to find any two tracks that sound the same. Therefore, expect a bevy of entertaining, ear-pleasing tracks from The Pink Spiders, because that’s what this new record is. The songs might transport you to another time in your life, or they might play perfectly as a soundtrack to a montage.
From the crashing chords, Greg Attonito’s emphatic vocal style, and taut melodies of the title track you know exactly what The Bouncing Souls’ new record Ten Stories High (Pure Noise Records) is all about; raucous, to the point, Pop Punk. This is their twelfth album and it definitely does not outstay its welcome – these ten songs are all wrapped up in under twenty-six minutes.
New Jersey is a rock, emo, and pop-punk music mecca, so it comes as no surprise that rock/pop-punk champs Can’t Swim would hail from the same. They’ve dabbled in a couple of genres on past albums like hardcore and indie before settling into more of the pop-punk vein which fits like a glove for the group. The quartet is gearing up for the release of their fourth album, Thanks But No Thanks (Pure Noise) as it drops the same day as their US-wide tour kick-off supporting Free Throw.
After two EPs worth of hard-slamming hardcore punk since their formation in Manchester in 2019, Going Off are delivering a larger beatdown with their debut LP, What Makes You Tick? (Church Road Records) with a fresh style that mixes older and new hardcore genres with plenty of destruction all around.
Formed right before the great lockdown of 2020, Bristol-based trio Holy Popes eagerly put out their debut self-titled album via Man Demolish Records. Having played their first show the week the pandemic hit, one can imagine how much songwriting inspiration has piled up for them since. Each song turns a simple guitar riff into an earworm groove, then sprinkles some noisy chaos onto it for a raucous result you’ll quickly find yourself involuntarily moving to. Couple that with their indignant resistance to capitalism and patriarchy, and you have the very epitome of post-garage punk.
Music lovers that find themselves doom-scrolling on TikTok are likely to have stumbled into Alex Melton’s amped-up pop-Punk renditions of Country icons like Chris Stapleton and Garth Brooks, or more subdued country takes on the likes of A Day to Remember, or Green Day.
Fusing the punch of distorted guitar with funky drums and free-thinking lyrics, Hastings, UK-based quartet Kid Kapichi show off their distinctive ‘beat punk’ style with their new album Here’s What You Could Have Won (Spinefarm Records). The title represents opportunities certain groups miss out on due to poverty, discrimination, or mental health. Continue reading
It feels like day 666 of blazing sun in the year of our dark lord 2022, as Satan’s domain continues to take control and roast our planet (climate change, what climate change?), yet finally, and oh so sweetly timed as we hit holiday season, in the words of The Undertones ‘Here Comes The Summer!’ And, boy, do we have the perfect sunshine accompaniment in the form of the beer-and-beach party punk rock of Beddy Rays and their self-titled, self-released debut. And the aforementioned Undertones smash isn’t a bad place to start in terms of the style and sound of this joyous album teaming, like rock pools with crustaceans, with ear-worms and great tunes. Continue reading
With the majority of rock bands using their platforms to speak out about common world issues through blunt execution, Australian trio Dune Rats acknowledges those issues with their own amusing perspective. Their new album Real Rare Whale (BMG) was written in an effort to fight off the negativity brought on by the pandemic using rowdy feel-good tunes. With this new release, the band says, “Life is hard, but let’s have all the fun we can while we’re here.”Continue reading
Any punk fan who has had to suffer through sexism or any form of discrimination knows how cathartic loud, unfiltered music can be. For bands like the UK’s Shooting Daggers, turning that rage into a career is the most effective way to keep their sanity. They appropriately characterize themselves as feminist hardcore punk and queercore, spreading empowering messages that stand against misogyny and abuse with a Riot Grrrl angle. Influenced by G.L.O.S.S., Gel, Turnstile and the like, this trio will give you a mentally productive thirst for thrashing away all your repressed anger and disgust.