From the school of Cop Out and Calvinball comes Pudge. Pudge play pissed up cider fuelled indie pop-punk. They sing songs about their everyday lives in Sheffield. Like getting drunk in the Washy, Jager shot abuse, minimum wage job hatred, bus strikes, pissin’ in Propaghandhi’s dressing room, Corporation nightclub, reminiscing about The Cricketers Arms and Cop Out.
Or at least that’s what the band say about themselves. On their myspace they say they ‘sound like 1995’ and that’s actually spot on. They remind me of all those good 90s bands that influenced the So-Cal EpiFat punk explosion. Fashionable and current this lot most certainly are not.
But that’s a good thing. It’s a blast of nostalgia and it’s done really, really well. It’s certainly more Superchunk than NOFX, but the guitar riffs soar, the drums hit hard and the vocal melodies are really good too. There are faster songs, there are songs with silly lyrics, there are bits ripped off of other bands I’m sure. But mixed in with it all is an honesty and a sense of fun that this band are simply doing their thing because they want to and because they love it. And fuck anyone else who cares. And I like that – I think there’s a ‘spirit’ in this record that a lot of other bands could do with taking away and learning from. ‘Chippy Tea’ won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s refreshingly old and enjoyable.