Browsing Tag

pop punk

Start Over: Underground Orlando trio NOT just want to replenish their energy with much-needed sleep on ‘The Worst Twelve Hours Of My Life’

With a highly ambitious and speaker-grabbing style which has your head bouncing around like a beach ball in summer, NOT recall that time when nothing seemed to go right on ‘The Worst Twelve Hours Of My Life‘.

NOT is a pleasurable Orlando, Florida-based indie alternative pop-punk/post-hardcore trio band. They ravage the unsuspecting airwaves with a succulent blend of drum-bashing entertainment that is stacked full of speaker-breaking vocals, and rampaging guitar riffs.

Their door-breaking noise slams all of the pesky wind back into the sun-lit sky – as they seem to fly into our lives like unsung superheros – to satisfyingly bringing back a sound which disappeared like Batman into the night a few years ago. This is a foot-stomping and sweat-flowing song which will have your ears alive, alert, awake and feeling blimmin’ fantastic.

The Worst Twelve Hours Of My Life‘ from the fiery Orlando indie post-hardcore/pop-punk three-piece chargers NOT, shows us a story which so many have felt recently. You feel that things could be way better as the day hasn’t gone anywhere according to plan, as you try and fall asleep but your eyes just stay open like a 24 hour convenience store.

This is a terrific track which quickly pushes the blood back into your head and lights your attention up quickly, to remind you that this genre isn’t dead, instead its gone back to the underground to reinvent itself again. Starting over sometimes is the only way to truly evolve after all.

Stream this new single on Spotify and see more on their revved up IG channel.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Daily Spreadsheets take us on a trip through the alt-90s with their indie alt-rock hit, ‘I Walk Alone’.

https://soundcloud.com/the_daily_spreadsheets/i-walk-alone

The Brazilian indie alt-rock outfit, The Daily Spreadsheets, created a time capsule back to the iconic era of indie with the release of their latest single, I Walk Alone.

The energetic earworm merges 90s Britpop with sonic US pop-punk to create a frenetically infectious hit that will enamour fans of Oasis and Weezer alike. The lo-fi garage rock production gives you all of the old school alt-rock authenticity. Yet, the unique revival hits the spot like no other as it spans across oceans to pull in international stylistic elements.

You can check out the indie alt-rock hit for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Observe the 93rd – punchy, potent, power-pop with new single ‘TRL’

Observe the 93rd

Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Observe The 93rd make a hell of a racket for a duo; that’s intended as a compliment, both vocalist/guitarist Derek Henry and drummer Dylan Zepp making some formidably good alt-rock power-pop noise. ‘TRL’ opens with a picked guitar line that’s kinda reminiscent of Blink 182’s ‘Adam’s Song’ or ‘I Miss You’, gently reverb-ed and turned up front and centre in the mix, before the track smacks you in the face like a badly-landed kick-flip; yeah, it’s got that ‘skater-punk’ feel in parts, a little of Simple Plan or Good Charlotte, but there’s an extra bit of heaviosity to the guitars, too, along with a Calling-like SERIOUSLY pop -driven, hook-laden catchiness to the chorus that works its way into your head really, really easily and then refuses to ever leave again.

It’s an absolute belter of a tune. You can check out Observe the 93rd on YouTube or here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Ferris shares affectionate coming-of-age anxiety with his latest indie pop-rock earworm, ‘growing up with u’.

Ferris’ colourful melodies and cutting lyricism have already seen his feisty take on indie pop-rock go viral. After racking up over 1-million streams with his, quite literally, infectious single, Zombie, he’s unleashed his sticky-sweet summer pop anthem, growing up with u, which discernibly deserves to go viral too.

His latest single explores the anxiety that kicks in when youth starts to slip away, and our tendency to look around for affectionate ways to stay grounded. It’s a stellar track. In every conceivable way. The commercial potential is resounding, but more impressively, the way Ferris embraces his authenticity and utilises his pop-punk attitude brings a stark sincerity to growing up with u. The candid and sporadically abrasive lyrics that construct sharp lyrical hooks take this radio-ready indie-pop jam to the next level.

The Miami-based artist and model has exactly what it takes to become a household name. Get him on your radar before he does.

Ferris’ latest single is now available to stream via Spotify.

Connect with Ferris via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Daniel Henry blurs genre boundaries in his latest anthemic release, Circles.

Indie pop-rock earworms don’t get much juicer than Daniel Henry’s latest single, ‘Circles’, which completely blurs the line between contemporary alt hip hop and pop-punk.

The Oman, Middle East-born, Dallas-based artist evaded formal music education but has no problem formulating mind-bendingly infectious choruses and catchy hooks, such as the ones that will ensnare you in his latest up-vibe hit. Daniel Henry takes influence from the likes of Shinedown, Blink 182, Machine Gun Kelly and Post Malone, but nothing in Circles feels assimilative – despite the swathes of genre-bending music that has hit the airwaves in recent years.

The lyrics may be delivered with a stinging antagonistic tone, but the feel-good factor in this radio-ready single has been turned up to 11. So, if you’re looking to vent your frustration that comes through cyclical torment, hit play.

Circles is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Darrian Gerard broke the pop mould with her pop-punk earworm, ‘Festival’.

Darrian Gerard

If memories of music festivals feel like a lifetime ago, Darrian Gerard’s latest pop-punk single, Festival, will bring them flooding right back as if they were yesterday. Darrian Gerard’s vocals carry the same girl next door vibe as the likes of Taylor Swift and all of the outlier attitude of pop-punk princesses such as Avril Lavigne, expectedly, that’s an instantly infectious and accessible mix.

The Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist also takes influence from Alanis Morissette and Angels and Airwaves, giving her sound a refreshingly dynamic sound that breaks the perfect pop mould with the effect-laden, punchy indie guitars and wholesomely rebellious attitude.

Festival released on June 4th; you can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

51st Avenue invites you to own your experiences of rejection with their alt-rock hit, ‘Don’t Want Me’.

With their latest single, Don’t Want Me, the Sydney-based 4-piece alt-rock pioneers 51st Avenue contend with heavy emotion through even heavier instrumentals. Their sound carries familiar elements of electronic pop, trap and post-rock, but 51st Avenue delivers them in a distinctive enough way that their sheer authenticity will blow you away just as much as the sound itself.

Soft and succinct verses with delicate female pop vocals are followed with tumultuously thrashing breakdowns that carry the same sense of chaos as you’ll find in Bring Me the Horizon’s sound. With the progressive structure of the single, you can’t help delving in over and over again. With every listen, the boldness of the lyrics becomes even more striking. No one likes to admit rejection, but 51st Avenue owns it in Don’t Want Me; the track allows you to consider that sometimes walking away from you is the best thing a person can do for you.

It comes as no surprise that 51st Avenue has already supported Start Your Own Cult, Cambridge, Young Lions and Hands Like Houses on tour. Although based on Don’t Want Me, it won’t be long until bands can boast about opening for 51st Avenue.

Don’t Want Me is available to stream on Spotify, or you can check out the music video via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

TROUBLESHOOT lets us into his meta introspection with his latest single, ‘Inside My Head’.

TROUBLESHOOT

TROUBLESHOOT is set to release their visceral pop-punk anthem, Inside My Head; the York-based solo artist sells himself as the upbeat Lewis Capaldi and undersells his lyrical ingenuity in the process.

Taking influence from classic 00s pop-punk, TROUBLESHOOT allows his over-driven guitar tones to ring with apathy in the verses, when the chorus hits, you’ll get that sweet euphoric release as the track finds a clever way to remind you that you’re jealous of people whose lives are just as mundane as everyone else’s.

We are all drinking the Pepsi or Coke version of suffering, the answer? TROUBLESHOOT prescribes escaping into your head and creating metaphysic realities where the constraints of the physical world don’t carry on dragging you down.

Any fans of Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182 or All Time Low won’t want to miss out on this provokingly cathartic single.

You can check out TROUBLESHOOT via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Make Rachael Wood’s latest single, Be Mine, your summer pop-rock playlist staple

Rachael Wood

‘Be Mine’ is the latest pop-rock earworm released by up and coming artist Rachael Wood, she may have only made her debut during the 2020 lockdown, but her sound readily oozes sonic finesse.

After the Paramore and Pale Waves-Esque choruses, Rachael Wood finds space to exhibit the versatility of her style through Slash-style soaring guitar solos that won’t fail to leave you arrested as you appreciate the bluesy sleazy grit in the otherwise sticky sweet-soundscape.

With her distinctive voice bringing an intimate indie feel to the release paired with the powerful melodic hooks, Be Mine is a radio-ready track that easily sets itself apart from the rest.

You can check out Be Mine via Spotify; for more ways to listen, head over to her official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Just Pathetic are wondering just what happened ‘Since College’

Describing themselves as ‘a band specialising in substandard music and haphazard melodies’, Just Pathetic’s ‘Since College’ is a poppy-punk number, with elements of Bowling For Soup, The Police, Sum-41, and Journey all mixed up with a Blink 182 tongue-in-cheek bouncy, upbeat ode to time since…well, you guessed it, since college.

There’s a nice little break-down mid-song, a nice flanged-and-octaved guitar-line throughout, and lyrically there’s some not-too-serious digs at teen entitlement, angst, and ‘emo-days’ mixed up with underage drinking and ‘interesting’ cigarettes. It’s fun, it’s vaguely silly, and it’s catchy, energetic, and exuberant mixed in with laid-back ‘stoner’ vocals (there’s a tiny hint at ‘Superfuzz’-era Mudhoney to the delivery), with the fuzziest guitar tone we’ve heard in a long time. It’s the age-old question: ‘Where have the days gone since college?’

You can hear ‘Since College’ on YouTube; check out Just Pathetic here.

Review by Alex Holmes