Album Review: Come What May by The Penske File

The Penske File are one of my favourite musical discoveries of the past couple of years. I heard their album Burn Into The Earth and instantly became a big fan of the Canadian three piece. Burn Into The Earth was released back in 2015 so I was super excited when the band released two brand new songs via Stomp Records titled Come What May and Oh Brother.

Come What May starts off with some fantastic duelling guitars and drumming, really grabbing the listener from the beginning. After the initial flurry we are treated to some fantastic, emotional vocals that you'll be singing from the outset. The whole thing really gives off a ballady feeling, a real get your lighters out moment. I was kind of expecting a bit more of a faster paced track after the initial start of the Come What May but instead we have a mid-paced emotionally charged banger that looks at the topic of things remaining the same no matter how out of control you feel.

Oh Brother begins with a nice acapella introduction complete with a little "whoa-oh" harmony. This will get a crowd singing along to the song instantly and put a huge smile on my face the first time that I heard it. Oh Brother is more poppy than Come What May and really shows The Penske File at their very best. The chorus is an instant earworm, you'll be singing this for days, much like the chorus from Burn Into The Earth's Damned. The gang vocal shouts of "Whoa-oh Brother Where've You Gone, Goddamn It's Been So Long" add so much impetus to the chorus and make it sound huge. The song is about missing somebody you care about and longing to have them back.

I'm assuming these two songs are in preparation for a future full length from The Penske File. If these are the two lead songs we are in for an absolute treat from the assumed future album. I'm hoping they find their way over to the UK soon so I can hear these tracks and many more of their fantastic back catalogue live.

Stream and download Come What May here: https://thepenskefileband.bandcamp.com/

Like The Penske File here: https://thepenskefileband.bandcamp.com/

This review was written by Colin Clark.