The current crop of independent punk acts currently bringing exciting music to the underground scene – Dream Wife, Lambrini Girls, Hot Wax, Problem Patterns and many others – recall past pioneers in their DNA but have brought it all up to date with a collective thrilling energy in their state of the nation addresses and the many various relevant themes covered. They all really-up the stakes even further due to being fortified with a fiercely individually distinctive freshness. Loose Articles glide in with both a dayglow appearance and a thrilling sound for an ear-catching debut.
Right from the get go, spacey synth whooshes align ‘Mr Manager’ while lyrically this will connect with anyone having experienced or experiencing being off work ill and ungrateful nightmare bosses. There is a rockabilly/punk esque guitar riff driving ‘Are You A Welder.’ But, there isn’t any sense of nostalgia here as it all smacks of the here and now, even the foreseeable future. They stretch out their sound far and wide as ‘Unpaid Intern’ expresses a Cumbia/Latin vibe. ‘’I’ve nearly made it’ initial talking style recalls Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw before Natalie Wardle unleashes glorious howling rage, and the band exercise a mighty robust – pulling all its weight out – groove. The nine songs clock in around the 40 minutes mark and there isn’t any unnecessary extra mileage because the journey taken as a listener feels a lot less.
If you’ve had your finger firmly on the pulse of the British underground scene then Colchester punks Rad Pitt are a name you should already be all too familiar with. Having already released a trio of albums and an EP since 2015, performed alongside scene darlings The Saint Pierre Snake Invasion and at festivals such as Arctangent and Jamie Lenman’s Lenmania, Rad Pitt are ready to take the UK scene by storm with their latest album Hymns For The Hopeful.
In classic Rad Pitt fashion Hymns For The Hopeful flies by like a speeding bullet jam packed with ferocious riffs and hard-hitting hardcore punk energy. With a sound somewhere between Million Dead, HECK and early Idles, Rad Pitt thunder out of the gate with album opener ‘I Went To Bristol And Saw Macaulay Culkin On A Boat Once’ which perfectly balances a huge, sing-along chorus with stomping hardcore attitude and guitar riffs from dualling guitarists Mathew Gilbert and Christopher Smith to match. To fans of the quintet’s previous work it’s immediately obvious how far their new material elevates their sound, Rad Pitt have never sounded this crystal clear while keeping their filthy DIY ethos intact.
Rad Pitt’s greatest strength is their consistency, even though each song has its own identity it would be difficult to point out a single one that sticks out as a weak point. Tracks like ‘The Rad Pitt Guide To The Perfect 2-Step’ and ‘I Am The Law’ deliver such non-stop energy that they steal the show despite thundering along at a relatively constant speed. Sometimes winding dynamics and complex instrumentation make a song, sometimes the best tracks can be carried on sheer, screeching will alone, Rad Pitt manage to find time to do both.
Written entirely across the span of 2023, The Crucible of Life documents the band’s rise and further rise, as they exploded into the mainstream consciousness of the alternative scene. With a wry sense of humour and a playful attitude, the band use this record as a vehicle to not only bask in the glory of their success but explore all of the pitfalls that come with getting everything that you want. Working alongside legendary musicians Skylar and Ty Accord, the end result is the band’s most polished work to date, and a record that solidifies them as one of the most relevant and important bands in the alternative scene.
In the very opening moments of the record, The Home Team attempt to set the scene for the tone and themes of the album, with great execution. ‘Turn You Off’ is a superb opening track, letting the listener know that they’re getting more of the slick and groovy energy that The Home Team are known for, but now with the maturity, focus, and polish of a band entering the big leagues. ‘Oh no, here we are again,’ chimes vocalist Brian Butcher, immediately seeking to get across that feeling of the band suddenly facing the prospect of remaking a smash success as they had with Slow Bloom.
One of the album’s three singles, ‘Brag’ continues those themes of living up to impossible self-imposed expectations following success. The manner in which the track ebbs and flows, with layers of rousing brass and crunchy guitar weaving in and out, is electrifying to experience, keeping the listener fully engaged. Those stunning brass moments are continued with ‘Love & Co.’, with its funk and R&B flair decorated with bright fanfares and a searing guitar solo in the back half.
Speed are at the forefront of a wave of bands who live by hardcore’s tenets and deliver no-frills extremity, and they managed that without even releasing a debut album. With EPs including 2022’s Gang Called Speed, they almost immediately garnered a sizeable following and packed out tours and festival stages, including Outbreak in the UK – not bad for a band a 24-hour flight from home. But now that debut, ONLY ONE MODE, has landed and it deserves the all-caps it and all its song titles are stylised with. A bruising, no-bullshit assault on the senses, this is hardcore in its purest form and one of the best albums to come out of it in some time.
The title also neatly encapsulates not just its contents but Speed’s entire ethos; go as hard as possible, all the time. And when all ten of its songs together don’t even hit the 30 minute mark, you can very easily get away with doing just that – maximum impact in the shortest time possible. Opener ‘REAL LIFE LOVE’ has the kind of smack-your-face-off opening riff many bands can only dream of, a call to arms and pit violence that kicks into full gear with vocalist Jem Siow roaring – what else – the band’s name. It’s in and out in 3 minutes, ‘DON’T NEED’ following without so much as a pause for breath.
It’s increasingly rare that a band such as Vower gets much attention before even releasing any material but this British metal supergroup has managed to turn plenty of heads on its members’ names alone. With Toska, The Totemist and one time Stormzy guitarist Rabea Massaad, guitarist Joe Gosney and drummer Liam Kearley both formerly of metal darlings Black Peaks, bassist Rory McLean and Palm Reader vocalist Josh McKeown, it’s not surprising that the quintet’s back catalogue is already earning them slots at Arctangent, Radar and 2000 Trees festivals and opening slots with prog-metal icons Karnivool. On their debut EP Apricity Vower prove that they’re far more than the sum of their parts.
From the outset, it’s clear that Massaad and Mckeown are leading the charge together on Apricity with the former’s thunderous guitar riffs and the latter’s commanding vocals dominating the EP’s first track and lead single ‘Shroud’. Vower take every opportunity to provide McKeown and Massaad back-and-forth moments, structuring their songs around the pair’s undeniable chemistry and allowing them to complement each other perfectly with the rest of the band providing a solid sonic backdrop for the co-leads.
Pijn return with From Low Beams of Hope, a truly independent venture released under their own label Floodlit Recordings. Having previously collaborated with Conjurer on the brilliant Curse These Metal Hands, it’s high time we got to hear the follow-up to 2019’s Loss. Recorded not once but twice due to studio floods and lineup changes, this is an album long in the making and one we have been gleefully anticipating.
The album opens with a poem, backed by a gentle yet urgent instrumental build; a collage of voices backed by rolling drums that’s gone almost as quickly as it came yet sets the stage for the record perfectly.
It’s a very Godspeed! take on post-rock, embracing repetition and incremental change to stunning effect. The signature scraping strings and droning dissonance that have come to define Pijn are initially used sparingly, but the way they’re sprinkled throughout makes the wall of sound that much more gratifying when it finally hits at the 5 minute mark. As Our Endless Hours reaches its peak, we’re treated to a gloriously cathartic blast of sax and strings that soar over the rhythm section. This newly optimistic side of Pijn is an absolute treat to listen to, and wonderfully complements the album’s darker moments.
There are some beautiful moments of calm to be found in the spaces between sections, and this is where Pijn surpass the grandfathers of the genre by tying them seamlessly into the wider composition without clumsy lapses into silence or awkward key changes. The 4 tracks on the album are distinct, but within each song the changes flow so smoothly that 10 minutes can pass in the blink of an eye.
The layers of tape loops, beautifully recorded piano and strings, and spoken word that form the foundations of the songs all feel reverently placed and treated with the utmost care. Too often these elements are treated as disposable by bands, or used for cheap space fillers, but not here. Everything is so beautifully woven together that repeat listening is almost irresistible as our ears strive and strain to take in every exquisite detail hiding in the back of the mix.
