As ever, April was a pretty busy month for us at Punktastic HQ. A lot of it seemed to be Brand New related, be it gearing up for their highly anticipated UK tour or their headline slots at the ever-excellent Hit The Deck festivals in Nottingham and Bristol. Our Radar section saw plenty of streams and exclusives from the likes of Harker, Above The Underground and Patrons, while the world enjoyed new records by Frameworks, The Menzingers and Brody Dalle amongst others. With so much going on, here’s the music that provided the soundtrack for our team.
The Menzingers – ‘The Talk’
‘Rented World’ is an album which doesn’t contain a single weak track. There’s no filler here so it’s incredibly difficult to choose just one song, but ‘The Talk’ is a perfect punk song. It’s lyrically bitter, fast-paced and has a really infectious chord progression on top of all this. Sure, it doesn’t have the complexity of the rest of the album but I’m simple as heck. [Sam Kanal]
PUP – ‘Dark Days’
I’m usually quite dubious when it comes to ‘hype’ bands, but when I was recommended this band by a good friend of mine I was immediately hooked. From their debut album on Side One Dummy, PUP mixes the shouty/catchy bits of Direct Hit, with the vocals from Gordon Gano’s Army (remember them?!) and the attitude of Gnarwolves all in a nice little package. Perfect summer music – they’ll round it off playing to thousands at Reading Festival, and they totally deserve it. [Mark Gadong]
Slayer – ‘Implode’
This month’s choice became a no brainer at about 2pm on 24th April, when an email about Slayer’s new movements made it’s way to me. Slayer have abandoned American Recordings after 30 years or thereabouts and have introduced their own label with this demo. Great tune too. [Mike Scott]
Janowski – ‘Loose Change’
Rough and ready punk-rock from Watford that’s pushing the boundaries of a fairly stagnant local scene. Named after a hilarious character from TV show Eastbound & Down, Janowski offer big hooks mixed with a very Hot Water Music inspired sound. [Tom Beck]
Say Anything – ‘Six Six Six’
When I read Max Bemis was doing the new Say Anything album with no guitars I have to admit I rolled my eyes and sighed but boy was I wrong to do that. ‘Six, Six, Six’ has blown me away and has me really hoping that we have Max going back to what he does best, honest, emotional, heartfelt songs. I didn’t even notice the lack of guitars and Andy Hull is just the icing on the cake really. The new album is now something I am very excited for, I think it might be a dark horse contender to album of the year if the first offering is anything to go by. [Maryam Hassan]
Grand-Pop – Nervous Nelly
The Attika State! Caves! Attack! Vipers! Grand-Pop has members from all of them, and this first demo of theirs is rather exciting. Can’t wait to hear more from the band, not least because Warren’s vocals are still so smooth. Hell yeah. [Tom Aylott]
Manchester Orchestra – ‘Cope’
I tried to choose a single track from this distortion-driven opus but the task is impossible; it’s flawless from front to back and without a doubt the best album Manchester Orchestra have ever released. Deliberately unsubtle, Andy Hull and co have consciously rejected the acoustic inflections, peaks and troughs of previous efforts and as a result have produced a relentlessly raucous record which at times borders on stoner-fuzz-rock. Already a strong contender for my album of the year. [Rob Barbour]
Archie Powell & The Exports – ‘Holes’
The first single from their forthcoming horsedick of an album, Back in Black, Holes is a excellent taste of things to come. The buzzing bass, the snappy drums, excellent hooks, and perfectly subtle keyboard all come together to compliment Archie’s Malort soaked voice. If the chorus doesn’t get stuck in your head for days afterwards, then you may want to check your pulse. These guys are some of the most fun and exciting musicians in Chicago and I can’t wait to sit good and choogle along when this album drops. [Mat Stokes]
Trash Talk – ‘Cloudkicker’
Trash Talk returned in April with a dirty ferocity that surpasses anything they have released prior. ‘Cloudkicker’ takes their immediate hardcore and throws heavy southern rock and a beautifully off-kilter vocal delivery right at it. Far removed from its ethereal name, this is a barrage of quirky hardcore that marks the evident return of the Californian mob. [Ben Tipple]