CPRW Top Ten Albums of 2021: Part 2

JOHN

10. Mutts Nutts by Chubby And The Gang (Partisan Records)

Chubby And The Gang have followed their excellent 2020 record, Speed Kills with another belter. Following on from their debut, this is fast, aggressive punk and roll at its finest. Check out: Pressure

9. Welfare Jazz by Viagra Boys

Breaking into my top 10 after just a week of listening! I missed this when it came out in January, but Viagra Boys sound like a slightly more melodic Idles with added saxophone. And I absolutely love the term ‘Welfare Jazz’. Check out: Ain’t Nice

8. 9th and Walnut by Descendents (Epitaph Records)

The slightly odd make up of this record (written in 1979, recorded in 2002, finished in 2020) made it really interesting before I’d even listened to it. The outcome is some classic Descendants moments, mixed with some fairly average songs but nevertheless it makes for a great record. You’ll be left wondering how they wrote these at 17/18 years old. Check out: Tired of Being Tired

7. Uncle Daddy by Wonk Unit (Plasterer Records)

Wonk Unit always seem to put out solid, consistent records and this is no different. Some added elements of piano/synth and a female vocalist make it feel fresh and there’s some undeniably catchy songwriting throughout. Check out: Traditional Punk Song

6. Rocket to Kingston by Bobby Ramone (Guerilla Asso)

I kept seeing this record knocking around on social media and assumed this was a short staying member of the Ramones called Bobby rolling with the name. What it actually is, is a mix of Bob Marley and Ramones and it works brilliantly. I’m not usually a fan of ‘novelty’ type records but this works so well and really caught me off guard, especially as I’m a fan of both artists respectively. Check out: Kaya Bop

5. Emphatically No by Cheekface (New Professor Music)

Cheekface are an indie-punk band with a vocal delivery close to spoken word. The album has wonderful word play throughout and all seems to be written with the tongue firmly planted in the cheek. What we’re treated to is some seriously catchy and fun songs that make it seem okay to hate the world a bit. Check out: “Listen to Your Heart.” “No”

4. Megabear by Me Rex (Big Scary Monsters)

The title of this record is perfect. The ‘album’ consists of 52 songs… 52! I’m not sure whether this was written over weeks, years or decades but the result is amazing. Me Rex seem to have appeared from nowhere with catchy, piano led indie punk/rock that’s infectious, heart-wrenching and wonderful. Like a sad hug. Check out: Tin

3. Perfect by Mannequin Pussy (Epitaph Records)

The only EP to make my Top 10, but it absolutely stands up with the rest of the records. The EP covers such a range throughout the five tracks. The general tone is melancholic but there’s a degree of aggression that builds through all the tracks. ‘To Lose You’ is a really beautiful song and is MP’s most vulnerable moment whilst the rest is aggressive, direct punk songs. Check out: Control, To Lose You

2. Contender by Fightmilk (Reckless Yes Records)

I wrote a review of this when it first came out and I’ve been blasting it most weeks since then. What I most enjoyed about this record is its honesty. As a fellow musician, I love to hear artists put themselves out there and just speak how they feel, which I think this record does so well. It’s also catchy as hell! Check out: Cool Cool Girl

1. Glow On by Turnstile (Roadrunner Records)

This record was such a surprise when I first listened to it. Somehow Turnstile have managed to maintain their unique and riff-heavy hardcore whilst blending in a variety of other elements including synths and samples. A record that has divided opinion but was straight to the top for me. Check out: Holiday

THEO

10. New Low by We Were Sharks (Revival Recordings)

Fantastic production, slick songs. Scratching that pop-punk itch for me with some more modern philosophy thrown in. Worth your time and might bridge the gap between old and new.

9. Fuck Art by The Dirty Nil (Dine Alone Records)

The combination of hooks and some fantastic guitar lines won me over, definitely going to seek out more next year and I hope to catch them live soon.

8. Ollie Ollie Oxen Free by Authority Zero (Concrete Jungle Records, Thousand Islands Records)

Fresh yet familiar, these masters of their art blew me away with this release. Every track has a fist pumping chorus with some intelligent and honest lyrics throughout.

7. Bless My Psyche by Sincere Engineer (Hopeless Records)

Fantastic and passionate alt-punk rock, just the way I love it. They are going to blow up next year.

6. Garden of Burning Apparitions by Full Of Hell (Relapse Records)

Something faster and punkier from Full Of Hell here while keeping their noise experiments at the forefront. Love the hardcore influences coming out more on this, their past 3 releases including Garden have been absolute perfection. Check them out if you want something heavy and vile in your life.

5. The Golden Casket by Modest Mouse (Epic Records)

Vibe album of the year for me if there was a category. I completely agree with Johnny Marr, probably one of the best songwriters of this generation in Isaac Brock. Modest Mouse have never released a bad album for me and this continues the trend.

4. Fuck These Fucking Fascists by The Muslims (Epitaph Records)

Great release, hard hitting and never pulls its punches, essential listening and deserves a thank you for making punk actually punk again.

3. Radical by Every Time I Die (Epitaph Records)

ETID continue the hot streak of never releasing a dull album, some fantastic guest spots and the ability to still sound fresh kept this on repeat for me.

2. Inside (The Songs) by Bo Burnham

Bo Burnham essentially summed up the past 2 years with his special, essential listening for those that need a cathartic release.

1. Glow On by Turnstile (Roadrunner Records)

This is album of the year for me for one reason, I finally got Turnstile. Every release previous to this I enjoyed, but it felt like something didn't quite click. With this it opened up not just another new release, but an entire back catalogue for me to re-assess and enjoy.

RICH B

10. Nowhere Generation by Rise Against (Loma Vista Recordings)

As catchy as it is recognisable, this new 11-track offering from punk rock staples Rise Against is packed with hooks, chuggy riffs and vocals that ache to be sung along to.

9. Bronx VI by The Bronx (Cooking Vinyl)

Bronx VI isn't by any means a conventional punk rock album. And that's exactly what makes it authentic. Punk was never about following a rulebook. With Bronx VI, The Bronx continue to creatively wander wherever the hell they want to, and they make it sound so damn good.

8. Noise Noise Noise by The Last Gang (Fat Wreck Chords)

While Noise Noise Noise has classic shouty punk vocals throughout, these songs have a pop and sometimes reggae undertone to them, especially “Shameless” and “To the King.” The combination of powerful lyrics, Brenna Red’s dark and gritty voice, loud guitar riffs, and fast tempos make this album a punk success.

7. Turn Up That Dial by Dropkick Murphys (Born & Bred Records)

On Turn Up That Dial, the balance between punk rock and folk influences is truly spot-on, and it immediately gives the listener a sense that this is an album that begs for the audience to turn up the volume. This is a stark reminder of what makes this band special: it’s the fact that they are not singing songs to an audience, more that they sing songs with their audience.

6. Let The Bad Times Roll by The Offspring (Concord Records)

Rather than try to reinvent the wheel, Let The Bad Times Roll dives right into what made The Offspring famous in the nineties and early two-thousands. The songs are in your face, a bit rowdy, and accompanied by the one obligatory slow song to change up what is otherwise an even beat throughout.

5. Single Album by NOFX (Fat Wreck Chords)

Single Album hits the satisfying and cathartic release of hard-hitting, energetic songs while delivering substantial political and social critiques—without compromising any credibility as a certifiably subversive band.

4. Confines Of Life by Neighborhood Brats (Dirt Cult Records, Taken By Surprise Records)

Confines Of Life grabs your attention immediately and doesn’t let up until the closing seconds of the final track. Recorded right before California went into lockdown in the early days of the pandemic, the songs that make up the album are ones that need to be heard in this day and age. 

3. Diverse Reality by Paranoid Visions (Advance Records)

Diverse Reality is a sign of our times. Lots of bands and artists are trying to put their mark on pandemic themes, yet Dublin based Paranoid Visions do it with ease. The leaders in punk politics stride forward with this third episode in the ‘Pharmageddon’ series.

2. Now by Rent Strike (First Contact)

Now takes you on a folk punk rollercoaster ride through totally different feels and vibes, it’s a pretty raw and powerfully eclectic mix of well-versed catchy songs.

1. Waste My Heart by The Raging Nathans (Brassneck Records, Dead Broke Rekerds, Rad Girlfriend Records)

In Waste My Heart The Raging Nathans takes listeners on a music history lesson of punk over the last 25 years. Each track fits beautifully with its predecessor, leaving the listener with the strong bones of a complete album.

Album Review: Perfect by Mannequin Pussy (by Theo Martin-Herbert)

Sometimes it pays to be fearless and put out everything you can be in one release, a gamble that pays off with aplomb on Perfect from Mannequin Pussy.

It's been a long time since I've heard an EP that shows this much range, kept completely consistent and cohesive in quality and execution. Opening with the amazing grunge ballad 'Control', the group deftly work their way through a stunning variety of sounds and emotions, touching on the intense and fuzzed up 'Pigs Is Pigs' to the ambient pop of 'Darling' – hitting all they can in between.

The sheer variety on display lends itself to the sounds as well, with some raucous fuzz driven tones from the guitars showcasing the gritty production on display, something that I think helps keep the slower tracks edge. This strange consistency is definitely one of the most impressive things on display here, something to keep the listener hooked and pumped throughout. I'm so excited to hear what they do next based off of this, so if you need something fuzzed up and angry but with enough introspective moments to keep your head together, this is definitely a release worth checking out. You could say it's perfect.

Stream and download Perfect on Bandcamp here.

Like Mannequin Pussy on Facebook here.

This review was written by Theo Martin-Herbert.

Gig Review: The Menzingers at The Forum, London 15/2/20 (by Emma Prew)

Whenever The Menzingers – one of my all-time favourite bands – are in town, you can bet that I’ll be keen to go. I admit that I preferred when they were playing smaller venues than The Forum in Kentish Town and I begrudge giving my money to a) Ticketmaster and b) an O2 venue but they’re a great band and, unfortunately for me, more people have realised this over the years. Grumbles about venue size aside, I was also extra excited to attend this show when they announced that Spanish Love Songs would be touring with the Philly foursome. If The Menzingers are one of my all-time favourite bands then Spanish Love Songs are one of my most favourites of the past two or three years – so, basically, soon to be all-time favourites. Add to the tour Mannequin Pussy, a band that I hadn’t listened to before but, after checking them out briefly, was keen to see live. This was bound to be a brilliant gig.

As Colin had taken the day off work in order to join me at the gig (Saturday night gigs are generally not good for us), we headed in to London earlier than usual to make the most of the day – and also because we didn’t know what impact the dreaded Storm Dennis was going to have on the trains. Surprisingly, no problems whatsoever was the answer! We went to the London Calling exhibition at the Museum Of London in Barbican which was a small collection of artefacts and information about The Clash’s classic album. As it was a miserably rainy day in London, the museum was very busy so, if you can, I’d recommend going on a week day and not a Saturday to have space to take it all in – the exhibition is on until 19th April. After that we headed to Temple Of Seitan with our pals Paul and Taj, to fill our tummies before the big punk rock show. I’m fairly certain there were several other people at Temple Of Seitan who were also going to see The Menzingers. What can I say, us punks like vegan junk food. Stomachs satisfied, it was time to head to The Forum…

Mannequin Pussy are a four piece from Philadelphia who released their third album, Patience, on Epitaph Records last year and they were first on. I always love how The Menzingers tend to bring a band from their hometown on their European tours with them. It’s often bands that we perhaps won’t know so well over here so the fans get to discover a potential new favourite band and the band get to play to big new audiences – everyone’s happy! As I mentioned earlier, I listened to Mannequin Pussy a little ahead of the gig to get a vague idea of what they were like. I must admit that I was a little put off by their band name at first but their songs more than made up for it, with a sound ranging from indie-style pop punk to ferocious feminist hardcore. It was that ferocity that really stood out to me when watching the band perform live with lead vocalist and guitarist Marisa’s voice ranging from angelic softness to intense mosh-pit inducing screams. I would say I enjoyed the louder and livelier songs the most, particularly Drunk II. Mannequin Pussy are a great band and I’d happily watch them live again.

Spanish Love Songs just keep getting better and better, both in terms of live performances and in terms of new music. Their third album, Brave Faces Everyone, was released during this tour with The Menzingers (on the 7th February) and so this has been as much an album release tour as a killer support slot for them. In the 15 or so months since Spanish Love Songs made their debut appearance in the UK, I have seen them live six times – with their set at The Forum being my seventh. To say that I love Spanish Love Songs would be an understatement. I’d spent the week running up to this gig listening to Brave Faces Everyone (it’s great – I will get around to writing a full review at some point) and learning the words. Of course, when the band took to the stage, I wasted no time in losing my voice singing along to some of my favourite songs – with those around me doing the same. From opening hit single Losers through to Schmaltz classics such as Buffalo Buffalo, The Boy Considers His Haircut and set closer Beer & Nyquil with newer tunes Routine Pain, Kick and Losers, Pt. 2 thrown in between, I adored every second of Spanish Love Songs’ performance. The new songs sound better than ever live and fit in nicely alongside songs from Schmaltz. It’s a little sad that I don’t think we’ll be hearing songs from their first album, Giant Sings The Blues, again any time soon but, when the new songs are this good, I guess I can live with that. What a performance from a ‘support’ band. It won’t be long before Spanish Love Songs are headlining venues of this size themselves!

It had been over a year since I last saw The Menzingers headline their own show, having only seen them once last year at Slam Dunk Festival (not a prime example of a Menzingers gig, to be honest) so I was rather looking forward to their set. Of course, since I last saw them, The Menzingers have released their sixth album. I must admit to not being a huge fan of Hello Exile as a whole – I did review the album if you want to know more of my thoughts. Basically, I like the singles and a couple of other songs but it just didn’t meet the high standard set by 2017’s After The Party for me. However, I was hoping that by hearing the new songs live, I might see something in them that I was otherwise missing. Opening their set with Anna, the lead single from Hello Exile, seemed to go down a treat with the crowd and we certainly had no problem singing along to it as if it was an old favourite. The song has a big anthem-like feel and so it didn’t sound at all out of place being played to 2000 people. But what’s better than that many people singing along to ‘I have so much to yell you, Please come back to Philadelphia’? That many people yelling ‘I will fuck this up, I fucking know it’! To follow a newer song with The Obituaries, from the iconic album On The Impossible Past, was pretty perfect if you ask me. I certainly had a nice time screaming along to one of my favourite songs. From then on, it was a combination of songs from the last four albums including Rodent, Portland, Good Things, Burn After Writing, Tellin’ Lies and Strangers Forever. Tom was his typical bouncy self, truly having the best time on stage – not that the rest of the band weren’t, he’s just such a joy to watch. There was certainly no tiredness on show from the band due to this being this being the last night of the tour. Whether The Menzingers were playing songs from OTIP or Hello Exile, those around me were singing along to every single word with plenty of fists thrown in the air for the rowdier tunes. Clearly much of The Menzingers’ fan-base, or at least those that had come out to see them on this tour, didn’t have such doubts about the band’s latest album. I’m not sure hearing the songs live has changed my opinion all that much but there’s no denying that I still have the best time whenever I’m at a Menzingers show. They are still one of my favourite bands of all time.

Unfortunately, due to the questionable nature of Storm Dennis and the fact that our last train that didn’t involve a rail replacement bus service was at 10:35pm we had to leave the gig quite early. I was hoping to hear After The Party before we had to leave, as that’s always such a joy to scream along to, but I later found out that it was the very last song of the encore – understandable really as it’s such an awesome song! We missed about five or six songs, including a cover of Death Of Glory by The Clash which I’m sure would have been brilliant, but we did manage to get home without any hiccups. And, besides, I’m seeing The Menzingers (and Spanish Love Songs) again later this year anyway, when they play Booze Cruise Festival in Hamburg which is going to be ridiculously good! The whole line-up is incredible and having been to the DIY fest last year, I’d highly recommend it.

This gig review was written by Emma Prew. Photos also by Emma.