Originally forming as a kick-back against the male dominated punk scene found within their native Northern Ireland, Cherym are a band fulled by a personal mission statement, a declaration composed of two unique intentions. The first, is to release music that highlights the culturally ingrained prejudice against women and non-binary people within Generation Z. The second, seemingly, is a desire is to be one of the biggest bands on the planet. The first declaration is righteous and noble – the latter lofty – but with their debut Cherym smash the first part of their mission statement whilst working towards their final goal with impressive zeal.
The follow up to a couple of brilliant extended plays, Take It Or Leave It is 10 tracks of wonderfully zingy pop-punk / rock that sound euphoric, urgent and fresh. Whilst the majority of pop-punk and pop-punk adjacent bands currently on the market may be sterile and stagnant – not to mention conceptually void of substance – this record is the perfect counteragent to the mass produced content currently being manufactured by the boys club that have a monopoly on the scene. It’s a radiant antithesis of rage-fuelled joy that harkens back to the sun-kissed halcyon days of pop-punk long before the cultural rot associated with the modern scene seeped in, but also a record that has vital progressive vales at heart. Quite frankly, Take It Or Leave It is impossible not to adore.
Opener ‘Alpha Beta Sigma’ and the immediate follow-up of ‘The Thing About Them’ immediately establishes the sense of both rage and joy inherent to the record. As the former draws parallels between the bigotry of Catholic Church and violent incel types who worship figureheads such as Andrew Tate whilst the latter celebrates queer joy whilst uprooting the xenophobic roots embedded within our nation’s cultural foundation, the biting but sugar-laced fangs of this record are exposed from the get-go.
IDLES have never been a band that rests on their laurels. Their balls to wall frantic energy simmers below the surface of even the most placid track, threatening to burst out it’s cage like an enraged punk rock gorilla. TANGK, although finding them in a somewhat more tranquil contemplative mood, is no different. There’s plenty of classic IDLES here, but they have also upped their game, the guitar FX are deeper, more varied, sparce yet all consuming of the space left by the ever-present hammering of the rhythm section.
There is dichotomy between the lyrical content of Joe Talbot, who talks about love constantly throughout the album, “love is the thing, is the thing, is the thing”, is repeated over and over at the end of ‘POP POP POP’, the delivery blistering, aggressive, even when it’s quiet, the message is one of togetherness, community, endless love for those around him, and for the people that enable his merry band of punks (sort of punks) to continue to ply their trade.
Throughout the album there is also a nascent unpredictability, on first listen the songs twist and turn like a lazy river, they never really reveal their hand until that same hand is down and they’re dancing on the table celebrating a win. This unpredictability gives the whole album a chaotic energy that is usually reserved for the more madcap hardcore punk bands, it’s strange that a song, or songs where the guitars are there more as texture than as non-stop riff machines should be able to carry so much emotional frenetic energy, but this is what’s come to be expected from IDLES.
Bands who rally for justice and protection of our fundamental rights are vitally important to the scene when we exist in a time of such sinister oppression. Dropping at the perfect time, London-based queercore band, Shooting Daggers return after their well-deserved flourishing with passionately raw debut album, Love and Rage. Entangling elements of modern and post-hardcore, punk and riot grrrl, this album generates a smothering infectious sound while evoking a call for intersectional feminism, self-love, reclaiming our power and to stop giving a fuck about male validations.
Athames was a full-on assault, angrily squaring up to misogyny, calling out abusers and addressing queer struggles. The confrontational power heard in ‘Liar’ and ‘You Can’t Kill Us’ from their earlier EP has certainly been carried over to Love and Rage. Kicking off the album, ‘Dare’ is immediate evidence of this continuation, dropping into direct hardcore fury, while tracks ‘Not My Rival’ and ‘Bad Seeds’ overflow with feminine prowess. Here, the band call to “shake things up” and “break the cycle”, channelling jagged, 90s grunge with “cheerleader” backing vocals in the latter track.
Shooting Daggers convey a deep, positive message in Love and Rage, prompting a reconsideration of how we view rage, reframing it as a constructive mechanism to take action and push towards solidarity and societal change. This softer approach is echoed in the direction of the album, inviting more harmony and ballad-esque moments, as first heard in ‘Smug’, illuminating the importance of community, going back to your roots and how fantastic Sal’s vocal range is.
After a few years away, playing immaculate shows and gaining well warranted attention worldwide, The Chisel have returned and, like the rest of us, they seem a bit pissed off. Unsurprisingly for a band who have mastered their sound, What A Fucking Nightmare lives up to its 2021 predecessor, Retaliation continuing the fierce infusion of Oi!, street-punk, hardcore and UK82 elements with a smacking of melody that gives The Chisel their exhilarating uniqueness.
What A Fucking Nightmare is a gritty, Britishly aggressive no gimmick approach to punk. Composed of a rather obtuse opener and 15 tracks (most of them not passing the 3 minute mark), this record does not permit any boredom throughout being carefully crafted to chaotically whiplash between fast-paced stompers and singalongs. Needless to say, the bite of this record is further enhanced by vocalist Cal Graham’s bluntly volatile lyrics addressing day-to-day resentments, injustices and dickheads down the pub.
The new four track extended play from the South Coast trio, Better Days stands as SNAYX further compounding their acid-laced documentation of languishing in a stalled country overruled by a corrupt conservative government that see’s the population with nothing more than contempt. Much akin to their previous work – including last year’s brilliant Weaponised Youth EP – Better Days is a combative piss-and-vinegar scented molotov of incendiary punk sensibilities, one lobbed with pure furious intent. However, here, the solution within such bombardments has been refined and further distilled. The same furious, hyperactive and swaggering sense of punk that capitalizes SNAYX remains, but elements of grime, hip-hop and similar genres has been chemically added to the mix. Make no mistake though, this is still the same SNAYX as before, but their take on contemporary British punk now bites even harder.
The first half the record, consisting of previously released singles ‘Better Days’ and ‘Sink Or Swim’, is unmistakably the sound of band bolstered with confidence and purpose. Combining the sense of collective playfulness that characterised their first smatterings of material with hardheaded morale, these two tracks are quintessentially the peak SNAYX experience. It’s nigh-on impossible not be energised by the trio’s approach to contemporary punk here, with the stylings present harkening towards a band that have intentionally taken the sound of evident inspirations in Soft Play, Kid Kapichi and others of their nature before infusing them with organic twist that can only come from a deliberate desire to create music that provokes.
Whilst it may have been a little while since Chelsea Wolfe’s last solo album, 2019’s Americana/Folk inspired Birth Of Violence, things have been far from quiet. 2021 saw Wolfe working on the critically acclaimed collaboration Bloodmoon: I with metallic hardcore legends Converge, 2022 saw her working alongside composer Tyler Bates for the soundtrack to underground slasher film X. New solo material has been a long time coming, now re-emerging with new solo album She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She, shedding the folk side of Birth Of Violence and re-upping on the experimental and gothic side she’s known for; a project that is both introspective and extrospective, summarised by Wolfe as “the past self reaching out to the present self reaching out to the future self to summon change, growth, and guidance”.
Opening track ‘Whispers In The Echo Chamber’ feels very traditionally Wolfe. Dark, brooding instrumentals, distorted chugging chord progressions from guitars and lurching bass synths, impactful and deliberate percussion with Chelsea’s excellent soft, yet powerful vocal performance sitting atop it all. ‘House Of Self Undoing’ switches gears quickly and sinks its hooks in almost as fast. Focussed around a consistent post-punk feeling drum beat, dystopian synths paired with a driving bass line and subtle guitar melodies give the feeling that this track belongs on the soundtrack to an espionage thriller.
What follows is where things start to get really interesting, ‘Everything Turns Blue’ brings the pace back down to a dreamy nod, tonnes of elaborate layering and details buried in and around the soundscape. 70’s cyberpunk feeling synth hooks bridge sections between Wolfe’s emotive and hypnotic vocal performance. ‘Tunnel Lights’ is a dramatic shift, lonely jazz chords ring out on a piano as percussive samples and lo-fi beats usher in the vast trip-hop influence found throughout the album. Juxtaposing itself with noisy and abrasive electronics in the chorus, alongside another passionate and enrapturing performance from Wolfe. ‘Tunnel Lights’ slips back and forth between the two making for one of the best tracks on the album.
