Monday 2 July 2018

Album Review: Misery-Punk Ruined My Life by Goodbye Blue Monday


Goodbye Blue Monday are probably my favourite discovery of 2018. After being sent their first EP The Sickness, The Shame and at beginning of the year and then catching them live at Manchester Punk Festival, I've become a big fan of the Glasgow based four piece. At the end of June they released a brand new three track EP named Misery-Punk Ruined My Life on Make-That-A-Take Records. I was so excited to check it out and expected some big, big things.


The first track on the EP is its title track, Misery-Punk Ruined My Life. Straight away I'm going to say this – this is potentially the song of the entire year. It's a relentless punk rock banger about only being able to write songs about feeling miserable. The song has an unbelievable energy throughout its entire duration that really gets you pumped up. I was kind of expecting things to slow down at some point but nope, the high tempo and energy just keeps going and going. Despite the fast pace, it's a real fists-in-the-air shout-along as well with a really infectious and catchy chorus that's going to get an incredible live reaction when they play it. Goodbye Blue Monday also made a superb video for the song which you can check out here – and learn the words.

Worst In The Morning has a more melodic pop sensibility compared to Misery-Punk Ruined My Life. Goodbye Blue Monday are brilliant at writing these incredibly catchy songs that quickly get lodged in your head. Despite the song being about forcing yourself to face the day ahead after waking up with terrible anxiety, there was a feeling of joy that I found in singing along with the song. I guess this is the cathartic nature of a song like this. There are a lot of people who go through this feeling and having an outlet such as this track to help you through it must be extremely helpful.

Finally we have the song Love Is A Noose For Two. I first heard this song at Manchester Punk Festival earlier this year when quite hilariously they played it after an engagement happened on stage. It's a track about lead vocalist and guitarist Graham Lough's views on marriage being "a conservative and archaic institution." The guitars at the beginning have me wanting to jump up and down before a quick shift in tempo sees the band return to that relentless style for the verse. The chorus takes on a more melodic sound that again allows for a massive sing-along.

Misery-Punk Ruined My Life is an absolute triumph. I did wonder if Goodbye Blue Monday could capture the magic of The Sickness, The Shame again on their second EP. Well they captured it and then somehow multiplied it by a million. I loved The Sickness, The Shame but this new EP blows it out of the water. Goodbye Blue Monday are a really special band who are clearly on a path to big things. Jump on this bandwagon as quickly as you can. Misery-Punk Ruined My Life is a big contender for the EP of the year. Seriously, it's so bloody good.

Stream and download Misery-Punk Ruined My Life here: https://goodbye-blue-monday-1.bandcamp.com/album/misery-punk-ruined-my-life

Like Goodbye Blue Monday here: https://www.facebook.com/GoodbyeBlueMondayTheGreatDepression

This review was written by Colin Clark.

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