Browsing Tag

pop punk

Condition Baker delivered a tenacious exposition of coming-of-age disillusion with their pop-punk hit, One Thing

Posted on 21 September 2022

The Holbrook, MA three-piece, Condition Baker, lace their pop-punk sound with an alt-90s twist; their latest single, One Thing, is the perfect introduction to their uniquely grungy and punchy sound distortion.

The infectious coming of age of lament unfurls around massive guitars fed through layers of frenetic distortion, drumbeats inspired by the Seattle grunge era and lyrics that are hooky enough that you can hang your coat on them before you head to the pit and enjoy the classic pop-punk choruses that keep on giving with every listen.

Any fans of Dookie-era Green Day, Jawbreaker, Descendants and Alkaline Trio will undoubtedly want to delve into this tenacious exposition of adulthood disillusion and exhaustion.

One Thing is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kyle Jaymes is a Perennial Millennial in his latest intricately melodious indie rock hit

Posted on 6 September 2022
Kyle Jaymes

New Hampshire indie singer-songwriter, Kyle Jaymes, brought a pioneering sense of melodicism to 00s emo with his latest single, Perennial Millennial. For anyone that grew up with Death Cab for Cutie and is looking for a matured take on sonic nihilism, Perennial Millennial is the finest wine in the metaphorical cellar.

Since breaking away from his indie rock band, Call Her Alaska, he’s become a one-man powerhouse, fuelled by his emotionally charged lyricism, intricate acoustic guitar hooks and euphonic production style, which gives all the angst of pop punk and none of the brash overtones.

Perennial Millennial will officially release on August 30th. Check it out here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

British Quintessentialism meets riotous pop-punk and post-hardcore in DEFS’ latest single, No Worries If Not

Posted on 7 August 2022

DEFS is a one-man mission to create groove-saturated raucous pop bangers; based on the Sheffield, UK-based songwriter and producer’s latest riotously off-kilter single, No Worries If Not, his endeavour is a resounding success. If you could imagine how Liam Lynch’s United States of Whatever would have unfolded if he was quintessentially British, you’ll get an idea of the animated exuberance.

With his influences ranging from punk rock to nu-metal to 90s indie, DEFS constructed a genre-fluid rancorous mockery of our awkward over-polite tendencies. Through catchy pop-punk choruses, hammering post-hardcore breakdowns (literally and metaphorically), schizophrenic vocal transitions and psychedelically anthemic mayhem, No Worries If Not became the ultimate alt-indie playlist staple. Half-Man Half-Biscuit has nothing on DEFS.

No Worries If Not is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Pop-punk pierces into hard-rock in Die Tired’s electrifyingly cathartic singe, Play

Posted on 21 June 2022

If it’s been a while since you’ve discovered an alt-rock track that tugs on the heartstrings as heavily as the rabid bass strings, prepare yourselves for the emotionally subjugating melodies in Die Tired’s latest single, Play, and leave the misery of responsibility behind.

With none of the pretension of a powerhouse and all of the talent, getting suckered into the anthemic soul of Play is non-optional. There are some serious virtuosic stripes through the hard-rock solos. But the filthy grungey distortion in the bass and Mathew DeAngelis’ vocals, which could send EVERY grown-up The All-American Rejects fan into swoon mode, the gravity of Play lingers in the giddying catharsis.

And if anyone is handing out awards for alluding-ly-clever monikers, it should be in Die Tired’s hands.

You can hear Play for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vanergast

Elizabeth II – All My Failures: Someone Tell Hayley Williams There is a New Pop Punk Supreme

Posted on 20 June 2022

With reminiscences of My Chemical Romance’s theatrically explosive antagonism, it almost beggars belief that Elizabeth II didn’t hit the same heights with her seminal single, All My Failures. Searing riffs? Check. Hooky choruses? Check. Avant-Garde ingenuity spliced with instantly infectious personality? Check.

The multi-award-winning artist allowed the single to ensue with a wobbly lo-fi prelude before bursting into a blister of frenetic rock with Jeckyl and Hyde vibes through the dizzying bounce from pop vocal lines to hell hath no mercy screams.

The Washington DC-born, Nashville-based artist’s boisterous infusion of punk, pop, and rock which has never tasted another artist’s flavour has seen her performing at the city’s most infamous venues, opening for William DuVall and playing for Slash since she emerged on the scene in 2017. It’s only a matter of time before she’s a rock legend in her own right.

All My Failures is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Back to the Point brought mindful maturity to pop-punk with their single, YOU!

Posted on 17 April 2022

Just like Neutral Milk Hotel, Back to the Point, make it effortless to fall in love with their punchy sound and quaintly sweet charisma – especially based on their indie power-pop hit, YOU!

The track instantly affirmed that I haven’t left my pop-punk days far behind me for the way I got suckered in by the emotional vulnerability that is cleverly paired against less-than-archetypal instrumentals that bring everything from jangle-pop angular guitars to frenetically chopped synths into the anthemically sugared mix.

Lyrically, YOU! wraps itself around themes of self-acceptance and coming to peace with the past while exploring others’ apprehension and fear around authenticity and ridicule. Quite honestly, my soul needed to hear this matured evolution of the genre. Back to the Point has exactly what it takes to put Suffolk on the pop-punk map.

YOU! is now available to stream on Spotify.

Her Burden melded Britpop with pop-punk in their melodiously pensive latest release, Figure It Out

Posted on 2 April 2022

With their first release of 2022, the UK alt-indie rock outfit, Her Burden sent us swaggering right back to the bliss of the 90s Britpop era. Figure it Out veers from the tried, tested and endlessly repeated Britpop sound by binging a punch of raw pop-punk to the type of melody that would make any self-respecting Oasis fan swoon.

Her Burden brought just as much to the table lyrically with their narrative of the perpetual optimist that keeps going round in failed circles as they did sonically with their intimate emotional firestorm that proves they have a heady stock of nuance in their arsenal. After the various pandemics impeded their bid for pop rock domination, something tells us there’s no stopping Her Burden now.

Figure It Out is officially released on March 25th; you can check it out via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Silent Disco brought the future of rock to Tennessee with their debut indie-pop-rock about a girl single, Rocks

Posted on 1 April 2022

Pop-punk collided with alt-indie in the debut synth-scored euphoric hit, Rocks, by the up-and-coming powerhouse Silent Disco, which may be the sweetest about a girl single we’ve ever heard. The stellar slice of alt-rock affirms that we’ve moved past the Girl All the Bad Guys Want tropes by celebrating the magic and mystique of spiritual girls.

It’s as hooky as any of Fall Out Boy’s iconic releases, but Rocks does far more than just teasing a little early 00s emo nostalgia; it is also well and truly ahead of the curve of artists clamouring over themselves to do the 1975 better than the 1975. It may not be the average sound that spills out of Nashville, but Silent Disco is definitively bringing the future of rock to Tennessee.

Rocks will officially release on April 1st, 2022. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

JÚWAN strips back in his pensive acoustic pop-punk track, DEATHWISH!

Posted on 1 April 2022

There was no forgetting JÚWAN after his early 00s emo pop-punk hard hitter Ouch. He’s on visceral form once again with the release of his third single, DEATHWISH!

The acoustic and semi-orchestral starts with a mellifluously morose intro before JÚWAN builds the track into an evocatively resounding confessional piece that doesn’t move all too much from the gentle intro, but notably, JÚWAN can metaphorically move mountains when he’s going deep, and you’d be hard-pressed to find more depth than what is contained in DEATHWISH!

DEATHWISH! will be instantly relatable to anyone that knows how it feels when it seems that perpetual sleep is the only remedy from the negative cycle you can’t break yourself out of. That might all sound incredibly bleak, but there’s no understating how sweet the feeling of resonance is.

You can check out DEATHWISH! For yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

No genre was safe in The Vista’s poppy alt-indie-rock fusion single, Truth Be Told

Posted on 13 March 2022

We may have been in a post-truth reality for a few years now, but here to burst that dystopic bubble is the indie rock outfit, The Vista, and the instantly iconic single, Truth Be Told, which melds classic rock with garagey proto-punk and smoother than smooth alt-indie rock.

With vocals that sit between country-blues crooning and bitey pop-punk vocal lines, they exude just as much exuberance as the anthemic vintage guitar tones that surge around the crunchy basslines and atmosphere-building percussion.

We can’t wait to hear what the Birmingham-based outfit have in the pipeline. They may have only appeared to shake up the indie scene in 2021, but their shockwaves are already cataclysmically strong.

Truth Be Told was officially released on March 11th. It is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast