Album Review: Float by Forever Unclean (by Pan Tessaromatis)

Denmark, the land of LEGO, Carlsberg and Nicklas Bendtner. And then there’s Forever Unclean. Could they be the awesome, hard working, euro-touring bunch of pastry eating punks you were looking for? You bet your Lurpak butter bitches!
 Aside from having an awesome name (three penis wine anyone?) these strapping young Danes know how to craft catchy, melodic punk ditties and their latest EP “Float”, which came out on March 24th on Disconnect Disconnect Records and Make-That-A-Take records, is as catchy as they come.

So sit back, stick the record on, grab a Tuborg and prepare to get weird. 
Aurally (orally?) this is a noticeable step up from their 2015 EP, “Shreds” - which is actually a great little EP in its own right. Each instrument sounds bigger and has a more commanding presence, the vocals are spot on (Spraynard, Gnarwolves, Smoke or Fire anyone?) and the hooks are… off the hook? I love it when you can hear a band gravitate towards their FINAL FORM - that’s exactly what’s happening here, so jump on the hype train before it leaves the station, kids!

Straight off the bat, the latest EP from these Copenhagen punks is a certified club banger™. Although you know, for a country that claims to be the happiest in world these dudes don’t seem all that chipper. But that’s cool because life is pain and everyday is a struggle and blah blah blah. What’s great about Forever Unclean is that they take all the angst, anxieties and struggles of everyday life and smash it against upbeat punk rock melodies, leaving you singing along to hook after hook about how life isn’t quite what you thought it would be, while you stand there grinning like a possum eating shit.

The first song is a monster. More specifically a Dinosaur and even more specifically I’m going to go with a Velociraptor. If you choose one song to listen to, let it be this one, because goddammit I was singing that chorus from the first spin. Straight up, energetic, passionate, self-deprecating and steeped in self-doubt - this song is great. Change is hard, painful but ultimately necessary for growth and evolution and frontman Lasse’s struggle with this resonates throughout the EP. It’s easy to admit defeat and “wait for meteors to fall” but in doing so what changes? NOTHING AT ALL, NOTHING AT AAAAAAAALLLLLL.

Like the creepy clown at my 8th birthday party, this song is drenched in the disappointment that life can sometimes be pretty shitty. Coming in at under 2 minutes, Float encapsulates everything I like about this record. Fast, energetic, great hooks and angsty vocals - what else could you want? Oh, there’s also a cool breakdown to really drive home the subject matter. I couldn’t really understand the lyrics though, something about taking a shower and factory resetting your router? Just kidding, the lyrics are great and they make it look easy. Fuck these talented assholes.

Check out the video below to see 3 half naked Danish guys shower together: https://youtu.be/ZfxvoO76lM0

Worthless. This is a fantastic song and possibly my favourite on here. All I hear is Spraynard and I love Spraynard, so I love this song. It’s a song of two halves, your standard punk rock affair for the first part followed by a shift in tone - a lovely little breakdown filled with the emphatic screams of “Do you know you make me feel worthless?”. They could have made it sound so cheesy. There are so many ways they could have made it sound insincere. But it’s real and it’s honest and you can’t help but connect with it. It’s also got my favourite line of the entire EP “ I don’t need less of you, I need less of the noise.” ;(

The final song, Waves, is the perfect closer. Bearing in mind the pessimistic themes of the previous songs, it lulls you into a false sense of security only to say “Surprise, Motherfucker!” (RIP Sgt. James Doakes) and get all positive and hopeful on you. A song about wiping the slate clean and starting again in the hope of a better things. If this EP is anything to go by, these guys have nothing but better things coming their way.

Forever Unclean have matured both lyrically and musically since their previous EP and it’s great to see them trim off the fat and create a tight, well produced and very, very catchy record. My only gripe is that it’s over too soon and I need to hit the play button to hear it just one more time.

Go buy their shit or catch them at a show during their UK in May this year: 12th – Leeds, Nepotism Fest, 13th – Dundee, Conroy’s Basement (RELEASE PARTY), 14th – Glasgow, 13th Note, 15th – Gateshead, The Black Bull, 17th – London, The Unicorn (RELEASE PARTY)

Check them out here: https://foreverunclean.bandcamp.com/
Give them a like here: https://www.facebook.com/foreveruncleanband/

Just in case you missed it, here’s a picture I found on the internet of these guys starring in a “Brazzers” video. I’m not sure what that is, but I’ve been told it’s very tasteful.

This review was written by Pan Tessaromatis.