Europe has never really been seen as a hotbed of high-energy, passionate power-pop. Not unlike colossal frontrunners of the scene Strike Anywhere and Propagandhi, Nijmegen’s ANTILLECTUAL merge melodic hardcore with a Fat Wreck-esque cheer and manage to do it better than most.
‘Every Crisis is a Moral Crisis’ blends and fuses elements of The Hives, Against Me! and NOFX vehemently – feverish drum beats and unpolished vocals litter angsty guitars to create energetic stomp-pop brilliance – and are followed up in the similarly excellent ‘Buyer’s Remorse’. Although more often than not used as a dirty, unwanted tag, there is no denying that Antillectual have cultivated their Dutch brand of pop-punk and done so to the finest degree.
Positive through and through and brimming with optimism, ‘Start From Scratch’ is a release which defines Antillectual as one of the few great euro-punk groups. It may have been disregarded in the past, but there’s no denying that with groups like Antillectual, the European scene has absolutely nothing to worry about.
OLIVIA JAREMI