Tuesday 9 May 2017

Album Review: Sink or Swallow/North by The Run Up


The Run Up are a five piece punk rock band from Bristol. On the 21st of April they released a brand new single featuring the songs Sink or Swallow and North. I loved their previous release, Scared Of Everything, so I was intrigued to see where the band went with this brand new single.


Sink or Swallow comes first on the single. There is no messing around with a slow intro, the song starts with no thrills and this does a great job in helping to familiarise yourself with The Run Up's melodic pop punk sound. Think Red City Radio with cleaner vocals. The track has a fantastic anthemic quality that also does a ridiculously good job of pulling you into the song. From the first listen I found myself trying to sing along. By the end of that first listen, I had nailed the chorus - it's so infectious. The first half of the single was a cracker, what about the second?

North is played at a faster pace than Sink or Swallow, which gives the song slightly more urgency. For me, if a song sounds urgent it's a great way of getting my attention for the entire song. The guitar playing at the beginning of the song immediately got me bouncing along before those excellent vocals struck. The Run Up's lead singer Larry has one of my favourite voices in UK punk rock. It just makes me want to sing along with him - it's endearing and welcoming and just lovely. When the rest of the band join in for harmonies and gang vocals the sound just explodes. This is that fist pumping punk rock that I love oh so much!

This is a great release from The Run Up. If you like bands such as Red City Radio, Hot Water Music, Bangers or Iron Chic you should be checking out The Run Up. If you're in London on the 17th of May make sure to check them out at the Unicorn in Camden. They are also playing Fest as well. Quality band, quality release.

Stream and download the single here: https://therunupuk.bandcamp.com/album/sink-or-swallow-north

Like The Run Up here: https://www.facebook.com/therunupuk/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

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