Apologies/Apathy is the title of the debut album from
Scunthorpe punk rockers Dynamite Dynamite. The melodic punk four piece released
an excellent EP named It's Only Breathing last year on 13 Stitches Records so I
was extremely excited to hear a full length from the band.
Something I really enjoyed from Only Breathing were the dual
vocals that were used throughout the EP. One was a more pop punk style and the
other more of a gruff punk sound. Two styles that should clash but Dynamite
Dynamite do a fantastic job of blending them together. The first song on this
album, I'm Going To Allow This, starts out with a simple, repetitive guitar
chord that gradually builds into a full band burst of fun melodic punk before
some vocals begin. On this occasion it is the gruffer vocals taking the lead
with the poppy vocals adding some excellent harmonies. This is a great fist-in-the-air
sing-along punk song and a fantastic start to the album. Die For This has a
more aggressive sound despite the poppy vocals taking the lead. The chorus on
the song is very simple with a basic "Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-Way-Oh, Never Knew
Somebody Could Die For This"; words that will be stuck in your head for
days. It is very apparent that Dynamite Dynamite are hugely influenced by
Oklahoma's Red City Radio; on the third track Nobody Likes A Moaner they go as
far as slightly modifying a RCR lyric when they sing "I've Seen My
Darkness In The Light" in a tune that is extremely similar to the lyric
from the RCR song Two For Flinching "I've Chased The Darkness In My Life”.
As a massive Red City Radio fan I loved this and love when bands wear their
influences on their sleeves like Dynamite Dynamite have here. Track number four
Shazbot has a fantastic guitar solo for the intro before, for the first time on
the album, the dual vocals properly work together rather than just being
harmonies for one another. This song is about missing someone who has been gone
for far too long and wondering if you'll ever see them again. We're All In The
Gutter has more of a pop punk feel than anything else so far on the album. The
song starts with some melodic vocals accompanied by some stabby guitar playing.
It’s about realising things are going downhill and finding a way to stop things
from getting worse.
Common Monsters is another catchy pop punk song. This and
We're All In The Gutter would fit perfectly onto any summer punk rock barbeque
playlist perfectly. There has been a lot of pop punk finding its way into the
mainstream this past couple of years. Dynamite Dynamite blow all of these bands
out of the water. Track number seven is named Porphyria, which, after a little
research, I discovered is a rare brain disease. Now knowing what it means it
makes the song feel very personal as the gruff singer talks about a girl who
suffers from the disease and about a chap who only wants to be with the girl.
This is some strong and emotional song writing. As is the next song - Postcard.
The tempo of this track is slower than the previous songs, really focusing on
the passionate vocal delivery. The musicianship throughout Postcard is
fantastic, really taking the listener on a ride with a series of excellent
builds into some big, shouty sing-along choruses. Good To Know had me tapping
my legs as if they were drums from the very first listen, I imagine it's a very
good toe tapper. The dual vocals work excellently with each other again in the
song, with the cleaner singer providing some great harmonies. The chorus of
"It's Good To Know, It's Good To Know" is one that will be stuck in
your head for days. Apologies/Apathy finishes with a song titled This Deal'sGetting Worse. The start of this track is explosive with some massive gruff
vocals quickly joined by the pop ones. This really is something that makes
Dynamite Dynamite really stand out above the rest of the pack.
I always think the sign of a good album is an ability to
make the listener be able to imagine seeing the songs live, for me this was the
case for every song on Apologies/Apathy. For a debut album this is just
fantastic and shows a huge amount of promise from Dynamite Dynamite, with a lot
of hard work and some luck these chaps are going to go very far.
Stream and buy Apologies/Apathy here: https://dynamitedynamite.bandcamp.com/album/apologies-apathy
Like Dynamite Dynamite here: https://www.facebook.com/dynamitedynamite
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