Album Review: Wasted Daze by Jerkbeast

Jerkbeast are a five piece punk band from Melbourne, Australia. Since forming in 2015 they have released a single and two EPs. The most recent of the EPs was released last October and is titled Wasted Daze. It features four songs of fast paced crack rock that will really grab your attention.

Wasted Daze begins with the track Pace Yo Self. This is a fast and furious punk rock banger somewhat ironically about pacing yourself. Despite the speed at which the song thunders along at, it's still full of hooks and is a real ear worm. It won't be long until you are screaming along with Jerkbeast on this opening track. Trash Baby is the title of the second song and, topically, it's quite a unique one. It is about losing your baby in the rubbish and having a lifelong mission to find her - obviously. Despite the frankly strange subject matter, the song flows along nicely and keeps you interested throughout. It starts out quite quickly but soon overflows with an infectious melody without losing any of its edge. The addition of some female vocals on the chorus works well, giving the song a bit of a pop feeling.

Upper Middle is a song about the different classes in society and how they are stupid. Obviously punk rock was built on rebelling against what society thinks you should do with your life and that has bred many punk rock songs over the past forty years so it's not a new subject matter. Jerkbeast have somehow managed to keep the subject sounding fresh though and I love how you can tell that they are passionate about it. It's not a slogan for Jerkbeast, it's a way of life. The final song is the EP's titled track, Wasted Daze. This feels like Jerkbeast's anthem. It's about wasting your days away one at a time and knowing that you won't change your ways. There is such a punk rock party vibe to this song, I can imagine the amazing reception that this song must get at a gig with a frantic mosh pit screaming along to the chorus as loudly as possible.

This is a really fun EP. Jerkbeast are that weird band that don't really reinvent the wheel but also sound incredibly fresh. If you listen to a Jerkbeast song, you know it's a Jerkbeast song. Despite being relatively new on the Aussie punk scene, Jerkbeast are seemingly quickly making some big waves.

Stream Wasted Daze here: https://jerkbeast.bandcamp.com/

Like Jerkbeast here: https://www.facebook.com/jerkbeastband/

This review was written by Colin Clark.