Sophistipunx is a really difficult word to spell. It's also the name of a really great band from New Jersey on the East coast of the United States. The four piece band consists of Paul Suicide on vocals, Eric Browne on guitar, Greg L on bass and Paul Orrico on drums. The foursome first got together due to a mutual love of the 90s skate punk scene, before throwing all of their influences into a pot and coming up with their own unique brand of melodic hardcore ska punk. Earlier this year they released their second album, A Common Thread. This caught my attention enough to put Sophisipunx as my band of the week a few weeks ago. Now, at the request of the band, it's time to give the EP a full review.
The EP begins with its title track, Common Thread. This is a crunching and ferocious hardcore track. There is a bit of a metal element to the sound of the song along with some harsh vocals. I can imagine a crazy and wild circle pit for the song when it really gets going. It starts the EP off in some fashion. Locked Down is probably my favourite song on the EP. If showcases the ska side of the Sophistipunx sound and, to be quite honest, it's my favourite side. If I was to compare their sound with other bands in the skacore genre, to give you an idea of what it sounds like, I would suggest Against All Authority or the Suicide Machines. It's a fast and up-tempo song that will get you skanking as much as you mosh and features plenty of opportunity to sing along with some well placed "whoa-ohs." The third song, Sorry Not Sorry, features the melodic punk side of Sophistipunx. The music side of things remains fairly fast and heavy but Paul Suicide's vocals add plenty of melody. It's a varied performance from Suicide as he switches between melody and a hard hitting punchy sound, depending on if he's singing the verse or the chorus.
The penultimate song, Succubus, has an 80s West coast vibe to it. On my first listen it had me thinking of bands such as Bad Religion and the Descendents. These are obviously two bands that I love so of course I enjoyed Succubus. It beings with a kind of strange distorted audio clip before launching into a fast paced punk rock banger. The energy in the song is superb and it quickly has me wanting to start a one man pit in my living room. I love how the verses are fast but as soon as we get to the chorus the band find an even higher gear. The fifth and final song on Common Thread is named Clickbait Conspiracy. This is another song I really enjoyed. It's about how websites on the Internet try and lure you in with shocking titles and thumbnails to ultimately make money and not actually show what was promised. I loved the ska but it's clear that Sophistipunx also do melodic punk rock extremely well. Paul Orrico's drumming on this track is amazing. It is hard hitting and incredibly fast, doing a superb job of adding a crunchiness along with the superb vocals.
Common Thread is a short and fun EP that showcases many sides of Sophistipunx sound. The recording makes it feel a little raw which I'm always a sucker for. I also think that because of the variation of styles there's a freshness to the sound which helps Sophistipunx stand out.
Stream and download A Common Thread here: https://sophistipunx.bandcamp.com/
Like Sophistipunx here: https://www.facebook.com/sophistipunx/
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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