I discovered West Virginian pop punk band Jerks! on a recent Bandcamp Discovery binge (my favourite thing to do). I didn’t find much I liked that day but Jerks! put a massive smile on my face as I’m a sucker for good pop punk. Way back in February, which after all that’s happened this year feels like a lifetime ago, they released their debut EP First Day on Punk & Disorderly Records. Here’s what I thought about it.
The first track on the EP is I Don’t Care which the band also released as a single in 2019. It’s an upbeat and energetic song about getting out of a relationship and acting in a destructive way to get over it. Truth be told, this is your standard pop punk sound – it certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel but (pardon the pun) I don’t care because it’s a lot of fun. The tempo is fantastic and it is really catchy. I like energy and I love to sing along to a song so this is great. Up next is Blabbermouth which has a slightly more serious tone. It’s such a contrasting sound to I Don’t Care and shows that Jerks! aren’t just one trick ponies. I enjoyed the way the guitars are crunchy at the beginning and how they build towards a more melodic vocal style. The use of gang vocals on the chorus is a particular highlight of mine and it encourages some great crowd participation, when that can be a thing again. Lead sing KC also shows some great emotion in the track.
The third song is the fifty-five second long GFN. I was surprised to find a short, acoustic song at this stage of the EP. At first I thought it kind of killed the EP’s momentum a little bit but in fact it leads nicely into the fourth song. GFN, which stands for Good Fucking Night, is an extremely sad song about someone who is struggling with mental illness on an emotional night. It leads into Anywhere To Go which starts in an abrupt manner. The band really bring the pace and energy back up on this track. It continues along the theme of mental health and wanting to be somewhere that you’re not needed and can just be. Sometimes all you need is to be with people who don’t expect anything from you. These two songs could be somewhat cathartic for anyone going through similar things. With the two songs sounding so different it really gives a feeling of going through the highs and lows of mental health.
The penultimate song is titled Our Ex. On this song Jerks! return to the pop punk style with some repetitive choruses and plenty of “whoa-ohs”. The band do throw in some little surprises to keep the sound fresh including a raw emo scream and a short but sweet ska beat. The track continues the theme of mental health and how it feels like your mind is deteriorating. I enjoyed the joyfulness of the track despite its sad nature. It will make it easier for people going through similar things to realise they are not alone. Last up is You’re So Cool, Brewster. The opening guitar riff felt almost like an alarm going off to signify that this song is going to be a big one. The short structure of the lyrics gives it the feeling of being a big sing-along and I loved it. The song is about trying to reconnect with someone who doesn’t want to and ultimately wishing them well. Jerks! finish the EP with my favourite song of theirs. It’s great.
First Day is a great debut release from Jerks! It shows a band not afraid to play around with their sound and also one that doesn’t shy away from tackling some heavy subjects. There’s a lot of potential here and I’m interested in seeing what they do next.
Stream and download First Day on Bandcamp here.
Like Jerks! on Facebook here.
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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