Album Review: Settler by Hardaway

Hardaway are a four piece band from Memphis, Tennessee. Influenced by the likes of Jawbreaker, Lifetime, The Replacements and Black Flag, among others, the band put out their debut EP titled Settler back in December of 2017. This was one of those brilliant Bandcamp Discovery discoveries where I clicked on the band purely because of their album artwork and I instantly knew I had made a great decision.

Settler begins with the song A Damn Decade. Starting out with just vocals and guitar, we are treated to a gruff punk song that fans of bands such as Red City Radio, Western Settings or Dead Bars will adore. It's a mid-tempo paced song that immediately cries out to be sung along with. Something I really enjoyed about the song is the use of gang vocals. They do this great thing on the verse when they switch between a lead vocalist and gang vocals on each line and it sounds brilliant. A Damn Decade is about wishing for your younger days when life seemed easier. The next song is named What's Worse. Here we have some more mid-tempo shout-a-long punk rock that I just love. This is that everyman punk rock that makes you believe you don't have to write these complicated melodies to create a great song. The passion that comes from the vocals is what hooked me into the song, they're rough and raw and, as soon as it started, I knew this was going to be a song for me. When I first heard the third song, Devils In The Dugout I quickly said to Emma (who was sitting next to me at the time) that this reminds me of the much loved and missed UK punk band Bangers. The deep, rumbling vocal style made the song boom out of my speakers. There is a downtrodden quality to the song where you feel genuinely bad for the band. This slow, plodding way in which the track plays out musically allows for plenty of emotion to come out of the vocals.

13point3repeating is the title of the fourth song on Settler. Beginning with a nice little drum roll that pulls you in immediately before we quickly transition into some more shout-a-long punk rock fun. The track is about drinking and getting high to escape from a bad relationship. The hook of the chorus is the standout portion of the song and is guaranteed to get a crowd singing along. The penultimate song is named About It/Out Of It. What a great chorus we have here too! It's bloody huge! With some fantastic gang vocals, the words "I'll be alright, I'm doing just fine, I've just got a lot on my mind" are repeated throughout the song and act as a great method of catharsis for anyone who needs to reassure themselves. This is a really powerful song. Last up on Settler is Journey To End Of East Memphis. (Do you see the play on the Rancid classic there?) The song starts slow and does a nice job of building towards its chorus. It's a song that looks back on the first time you met a good friend. It feels as if there is a great story telling element on this track and really helps you get invested in the song. This is a really strong way to finish a fine EP.

This is a really strong debut from Hardaway. Settler is a short EP is full of punk rock passion and energy. The raw sound keeps the album feeling grounded which I enjoyed but at times it did make the lyrics difficult to decipher which was disappointing. With a few tweaks in the production I think I've discovered yet another hidden gem thanks to Bandcamp.

Stream and download Settler here: https://hardawaytn.bandcamp.com/

Like Hardaway here: https://www.facebook.com/hardawayTN/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Album Review: Fresh Hell by Skank Agenda

In 2014 Leeds based band Skank Agenda released one of my favourite albums of the year in the excellent Hate This Shit. The song Pete On Drugs still brings a tear to my eye, its so heartbreakingly beautiful. Sadly not long after the release of Hate This Shit, Skank Agenda broke up with lead singer Alex going on to focus on some other projects including Bad Dylan and No Ta. Now Skank Agenda are back! …sort of. The band got together for a couple of rehearsals and a day of recording, sadly there are no plans to actually play any shows. On February 16th Fresh Hell was released on Alex's One Step Outside Records. Did it capture the previous magic of Hate This Shit?

Fresh Hell begins with a bang! Richard B Spencer is a short hardcore punk rock song about the hatred of American white supremacist Richard B Spencer. Naturally this is a ferociously angry track about the band's hatred of this human being (I didn't want to use the word person as that seems too nice a way to describe him). Like I said, this is quite a short song but the band manage to let out so much anger during the song, you really get the point. Up next we have O'Hara's Treachery. This song goes back to a more traditional old school punk rock style. It hooks you in immediately with its classic sound and you'll be quickly singing along with the band. The song is about somebody being in power and only looking out for themselves. The song is not about Enter The Dragon although there is a nice ode to the film with a short audio clip at the end of the song.

The third song is a completely instrumental interlude. Though perhaps not completely necessary on a five track EP, it is a wonderful piece of musicianship that does take you on some highs and lows. The building sections that lead to the highs are fantastic and really leave you on the edge of your seat waiting for that big pay off. The penultimate tune is titled Uncle Buck. Switching brilliantly between hardcore and ska, Uncle Buck is a song that really keeps you on your toes. It's a fun song about the 1989 cult film favourite Uncle Buck which stars John Candy and Macauley Culkin. I've never actually seen the film, so I don't really understand the references, but I enjoyed the song all the same. Finally we have Onlyougivealittlerespecttoagainstme! It's a three way cover mash up of Yazoo's Only You, Erasure's A Little Respect and Against Me's Sink Florida Sink. Skank Agenda have done an incredible job of mixing these songs together and making a superb song. You might not hear a better cover/mash up this year so you owe it to yourself to check out this song at least!

Fresh Hell is a very welcome return from Skank Agenda. There's every chance that this will be their last ever release (I hope not) and it allows them to go out with a real bang. Great stuff from a criminally underrated band. I once said that Skank Agenda can make a great song from any topic, I still stand by that statement.

Stream and download Fresh Hell here: https://onestepoutside.bandcamp.com/album/fresh-hell

Like Skank Agenda here: https://www.facebook.com/onestepoutsiderecordsuk/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Album Review: The Young Rochelles by The Young Rochelles

Fourteen songs in just twenty five minutes. This can be one of two things, a hardcore record or a pop punk record. With song titles such as Never Saw The Ramones and My Stomach Hates My Guts you'd guess a pop punk record, right? If you did then you are correct! Well done. The album in question is the new self titled album from New York based pop punk band The Young Rochelles. Not to be confused with The New Rochelles who the band shared/shares members with. The Young Rochelles features Ricky Rochelle (drums and lead vocals), Rookie Rochelle (bass) and Rocky Rochelle (guitar and backing vocals) with Ray Jay Rochelle adding additional guitars and backing vocals. The album came out way back in December 2017 and I've already wasted too much time not listening to it so I'm super keen to give it a spin now.

The album gets going with the aforementioned song I Never Saw The Ramones. Before I continue and to save time - every song on this album is fast paced, pop punk with sugary sweet vocals. Never Saw The Ramones is about never seeing the greatest band that ever existed. I feel your pain, The Young Rochelles! Don't Let It Last starts with some awesome buzzsaw guitars that you might expect from the likes of Teenage Bottlerocket before we get to the vocals and a track about being in a bad relationship and getting out of it as quickly as possible. There is a superb moment in the song when the music drops out for the chorus and we're treated to some delicious a capella style vocals before storming through towards the end of the track. The third track is named Return Of The Skunk Ape. This upbeat and cheery sounding song tells the tale of a holiday (or vacation) that takes a turn for the worse when the Skunk Ape makes an appearance. Uh-oh! This is great fun, very catchy and is guaranteed to leave a smile on your face.

Monster In The Hallway is one of the longest track on the album coming in at a gargantuan (I spelt that right first time, hooray for me!) two minutes and twenty-two seconds. It also features the best line on the album - "she's got more issues than The Beatles have hits." The track is about falling for a girl who is a drama magnet. On my first listen through of the album this was the stand out song for sure. The World Will Swallow You Whole starts out fairly aggressively (for The Young Rochelles) before settling back into the wonderful sound that I've gotten comfortable with. On this track the awesome harmonies that The Young Rochelles are capable of really come into play adding a wonderful extra layer to the song. The World Will Swallow You Whole is about learning to be strong or you will become overwhelmed by the trouble and strife that comes with being a human being person. Coffee In The Dog Dish starts in true Ramones fashion with a scream of "1, 2, 3, 4!" This is very welcome and nice to see a little nod to a band that have clearly influenced The Young Rochelles. Coffee In The Dog Dish is a song about having a hyperactive dog and the fun that comes with that. Kind of a silly song but such good fun. The sugary sweet vocals seem to get an extra squirt of glucose on the seventh song, No More Fights. No More Fights is a track about the frustration felt when you continuing to argue with your friends and it causing problems in the friendship. Despite the pretty downbeat topic this is another song you can't help but smile along with.

The second half of the album begins with She's Always Glowin'. The Young Rochelles take a different approach with the style of the song. It's more melodic than the previous songs with the vocals carrying the majority of the melody on the song and the drums creating a great back bone for the track. This really is a superb vocal performance by Ricky Rochelle. This will probably be one of the most obscure musical references I make all year but I'm really reminded of Dutch pop punk band the Travoltas on this song and that's fantastic. Song number nine is titled You're Tops and is a dedication to that person who makes you feel so much better. This really is a heartwarming track and I wish more bands would write songs like this. Sometimes I feel like there just aren't enough songs that say thank you to all of the good people out there. (Cue half a dozen comments listing thank you songs, I'll start you off with the Descendents - Thank You). The Young Rochelles completely switch up the nice sentiments of You're Tops on the following song, titled My Stomach Hates My Guts. Vocally it's slightly more raspy and raw than what we've become accustomed to and rightly so given the songs topic. Basically it's about having constipation and the discomfort it causes. (Hi mum, this is what I'm doing with my life - writing about songs that are about pooping, proud?)

Caught You In A Lie is surprisingly the only song that's less than one minute long on the album. The band blast through this song that is about exactly what the title suggests - catching out liars. Musically this song is fairly simplistic but this does a great job in pushing the song forward. The abrupt finish of the song catches you slightly off guard and gets you ready for the next track, Mental Vacation. Musically I instantly think of Pennywise, which if I'm being completely honest with you are not a band I would think of whilst writing about The Young Rochelles. I loved that the band have gone down more of a skate punk route here, showing off a whole other side of their sound whilst still retaining what has made me fall in love with this album. The penultimate song is named Coastin' Strong. There is a bit of a angry punk rock snarl in the opening vocals that took me a bit by surprise but quickly loved. The contrast in the snarling and sweet vocals in the opening verse really give a new fresh sound to things that I hadn't realised that I had actually wanted but immediately realised I needed. Coastin' Strong is another quite heartwarming and positive song about wanting to spend your life with somebody who you love. What a brilliant song. Finally we have Last Love Letter. I hope you're sitting down because The Young Rochelles have gone bloomin' crazy here and written a song that's over three minutes long! Recovered from that shocking revelation? Good! Last Love Letter is a beautifully sweet song/epic about falling in love with the one.

The best compliment I can give this album is that I never struggled to think of anything to say about any of the songs on the album - and there are many of them. Sometimes I do struggle to write reviews of pop punk records, particularly ones with fourteen songs as they can be a bit repetitive. This really wasn't the case here. I really enjoyed every second of this album and am at a complete loss as to why more people are mentioning The Young Rochelles in the conversations about the best Ramonescore pop punk bands around.

Stream and download The Young Rochelles here: https://theyoungrochelles.bandcamp.com/album/the-young-rochelles

Like The Young Rochelles here: https://www.facebook.com/TheYoungRochelles/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Album Review: Natural Born Chillers by The Bennies

It's always an exciting time in the Clark/Prew household when Australian band The Bennies release a new album. Particularly after getting to hear a new song the band have been working on their UK tour last year and we have been impatiently waiting for this release ever since. Finally, on February 2nd The Bennies released their fourth full length album, Natural Born Chillers, on their best buddies The Smith Street Band's new label Pool House Records. Enough with the introduction… it's time to party!

Natural Born Chillers begins with the song Get High Like An Angel. If you've never heard The Bennies before (what have you been doing!) then you won't know that the band flick between many genres including but not limited to ska, reggae, punk, dub, electronic and occasionally death metal. Because of this you can never be quite sure what you're going to get from a new album, other than knowing it's going to be a lot of fun, and there'll probably be some drug references from time to time. Get High Like An Angel manages to hit the ska, reggae, punk and electronic aspects of the band's sound. This might sound like it's all a bit much but The Bennies are experts in their craft and do an amazing job of bringing it all together to create something quite special. Something I've noticed more on recent Bennies albums is how the band have spread the vocal duties around more. This just adds even more to the party atmosphere. Bass player Craig's vocals are perfect for the more pop punk sounding chorus on this track. The second song, Dreamkillers, is the track we were fortunate enough to hear on the band's UK tour last year. It's an upbeat and positive song about following your dreams no matter what the naysayers might say. The opening lines sum this up perfectly as lead singer Anty sings "Break away from people that destroy you, chase your dreams and do what you wanna do." In true Bennies fashion you can't help but want to dance when you listen to the song, heck - I'm having a little bop in my chair as I write this. Anty, Craig and guitarist Jules all share vocal duties on this manic party of a track.

The third song on the release is titled Destination Unknown. Things get started with some synths from Anty's korg keyboard before more of an indie punk sound really gets the song going. The track doesn't travel at the same high tempo pace that we're usually used to from The Bennies. It's actually much more of a restrained and thought provoking song than I can ever remember the band writing. It's about a special place where everyone can belong and feel safe to be themselves no matter who they are. Sounds like a great place. The album's title track comes next. Natural Born Chillers is a superb reggae pop song. Naturally this is the type of song where you can imagine yourself hanging out in your back garden on a warm summers evening with your pals singing along to this song. The track is quite horn heavy and it makes me wonder if when they perform this live they will draft in some horn players or will rely on a backing track. This song is about feeling completely relaxed whilst you are high. Things hit their peak on the chorus when there are some really joyous gang vocals. The fifth song is named Ocean. After the chilled out reggae of Natural Born Chillers, Ocean picks up the pace and aggression (aside from some Beach Boys-esque "woooo-oooohs"). Anty's vocals hit hard from the beginning of the song, like an alarm clock after you've just had the most relaxing sleep. I love these rare occassions when The Bennies explore the harder punk rock side of their sound. Anty screams and snarls as good as anyone and the contrast with Jules' more friendly vocal on the chorus is just great.

Trip Report is one of the most interesting songs on Natural Born Chillers. Switching between spoken word and the most infectious, ear-wormy, as catchy as the common cold chorus you'll ever hear. It's about a night out after taking a load of shrooms and the escapades that occurred. The song is definitely a grower, on the first listen through I was thinking "what on earth is going on!?" but it doesn't take long to find a way into my heart. The spoken word narrative of the song is actually a fantastic listen and you'll be singing the chorus for days and days and days and then a few more days after that. The penultimate song is named Apathetic Revolution. High tempo ska party punk is the name of the game here, The Bennies speciality. It will have you skanking and moshing in equal measure, even if you don't really want to. That's the power of The Bennies music that is. It's a political song about feeling fed up with the downward spiral that the world appears to be going in and it looking like there's no way out. The Bennies do that thing of taking what is quite a downbeat topic and making you smile in a song. I've always thought that these types of song are very important. The upbeat nature is what hooks you in and then you'll listen to the lyrics and learn things. The eighth and final song on Natural Born Chillers is the fifty-seven seconds long Very Shit Carpet. This is a straight forward punk rock tune that feels very Jeff Rosenstock in delivery. There's that charming sloppiness that makes the song feel like a party. There are great gang vocals to start the song before Jules' gruff voice takes us on a high tempo ride through the song. This is a more simplified version of The Bennies that is just excellent.

Natural Born Chillers is another superb album from The Bennies. It's no wonder they continue to gain lots of fans all over the world as they keep putting out superb records full of fantastic songs that you can't help but fall in love with. Natural Born Chillers is perhaps a little short as it is only eight songs long but each song really hits all the buttons. It's certainly all killer and no filler.

Stream and download Natural Born Chillers here: https://thebennies.bandcamp.com/

Like The Bennies here: https://www.facebook.com/thebenniesband

This review was written by Colin Clark.

Top Tens: Joe McCorriston's Top Ten Punk Rock Influences

Against Me!
I’ve been a huge fan of Against Me! ever since I heard the “Rock Against Bush Vol 1” compilation by Fat Wreck and heard their track “Sink Florida, Sink”. I then delved into their collection and fell in love. They are a huge influence and I have the utmost respect for that band and in particular for Laura Jane Grace. My last LP “The Party We Came For” was named after a line in their song “Cliché Guevara”. I have them inked onto my skin and I will always be a huge fan.

The Menzingers
A huge influence of mine and another band I have inked into my skin. I love The Menzingers’ records, but 2 particular gigs stand out for me when I think about The Menzingers. I saw them open for The Bouncing Souls at Moho (R.I.P) in Manchester in 2012, a tiny basement venue, just after “On The Impossible Past” was released I was just getting into them at the time, and that show was the start of a fruitful relationship between me and their music. Raw energy, great pop hooks and intense screeching vocals. I have attempted to cover many of their songs drunkenly around campfires over the past few years.

Lady Gaga
I’m not really sure I understand what “punk” officially is, everyone seems to try to decide for each other these days. But for me, Lady Gaga is punk as hell. I love her music, her ability to write amazing pop songs, her ability to put on an incredible show and I really respect the efforts she makes to make her music and her shows inclusive for absolutely everybody. She celebrates weirdness and I believe that act itself is one we should celebrate. She’s a huge influence for me.

Bruce Springsteen
I have always *liked* Bruce Springsteen, and his songs, but until last year I can honestly say I only knew about 20 of his songs. Despite loving everything I’d heard, I had never searched further into his discography for some strange reason until I read his recent autobiography “Born To Run”.

That book is now, for me, the book of all books. He tells us about his life and his career from the start to the present day and my god is it inspiring. At times, it has single handedly turned my spirits around from “ah why the hell do I try do this”, to “holy crap, there’s so much hard work for me do yet and I’m so ready for it!”.

It has kept me company on my past 4 European tours (I’m on my 3rd read now) and since have been listening to his discography on repeat, making up for the time I have wasted not listening to all of his music.

Thanks Bruce.

Regina Spektor
I love Regina Spektor, and everything she has ever done. From her garage punk lo-fi earlier records to her more polished recent releases, she exemplifies her versatility as a songwriter, a musician and a vocalist. Regina Spektor is actually a huge influence musically on my recent writing and what will eventually be my 4th full length album. She has opened my eyes to a new way of writing lyrics, with the way she approaches certain subjects and themes.

One song of hers that is hauntingly beautiful is a song from her album “Begin To Hope” called "Après Moi".

You will understand what I mean if you listen to that song, check it out.

NOFX
NOFX are the kings of independent punk rock and, despite their strange ways and their constant need to cause controversy, they are a band I will always turn to during my darkest times. NOFX were the soundtrack to my high school days and introduced me to so many more bands through Fat Mike’s label Fat Wreck Chords.

Their series “NOFX: Backstage Passport” is absolutely hilarious and an example of exactly how *not* to behave on tour. I also think Fat Mike is a very underrated songwriter.

For me, his lyrics are up there with some of the greatest and NOFX’s pop hooks have always been an influence to me when writing.

Frank Turner
It’d be rude for me not mention Frank Turner. Frank Turner was the first acoustic Singer/Songwriter I ever heard, that wasn’t a quiet, chilled out, background music kind of acoustic player. I didn’t know loud acoustic music existed.

I saw him live as support for Green Day in 2010 (when I was 15 years old) and he blew me away.

I was really getting into playing the guitar and writing songs myself at the time and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said he is one of the main reasons that I decided to give it all a (proper) go, after seeing him entertain 30,000 people before Green Day played.

His album “Love, Ire & Song” is an album that I find myself returning to quite frequently, even after all these years.

Green Day
Boohoo, Green Day are sell-outs and all that crap. I love Green Day and they were my ultimate first love in rock music. My Mum and Dad bought me “International Superhits” from a car-boot sale in 2002 and had that CD on repeat in my portable CD player at school for months on end. Then they brought out American Idiot a couple of years later and the rest was history.

I still claim that Green Day (along with McFly) initially taught me the basics of writing a song and I’d spend hours in my bedroom playing along to their songs on my crappy Westcoast electric guitar.

The Swellers
The Swellers are another pop-punk band that had a huge influence on my writing and the thing that stood out with them for me was the fact they weren’t a typical 4 chord punk band. They were a band that could really play their instruments, probably one of the most technically gifted pop-punk bands I’ve heard. I went through a solid year of listening to “Ups and Downsizing” literally every single day. It didn’t feel right if I went through a day without listening to it (although “My Everest” is now my overall favourite record of theirs).

They are now split up, and they somehow never made it “huge” like they should have, but they are a band I still listen to regularly and will always visit for song-writing inspiration. Oh, and I think it’s really awesome that frontman Nick Diener would played lead guitar too, as well as singing lead vocals. He is a super talented human being.

The Smith Street Band
The Smith Street Band are one of my favourite bands to watch live in the world. I love them on record too, but they are spectacular live. The energy and emotion in the room when they play is indescribable.

In 2014, I got tickets to see The Menzingers play at Gorilla in Manchester and The Smith Street Band were booked as main support on that tour. Although I had heard the name a lot, I had never listened to their music, but I had heard great things. I decided to stave from listening to their music and rely on the element of surprise at the show.

I met up with some non-music friends that I hadn’t seen for a while before the gig and we had a couple of drinks and a few smokes. Now I can handle my smokes well, but on this day we took it way too far and I was super-high before the gig. I had to leave them and make my way to the venue by myself. I was attending the gig by myself, but I knew there would be folk there that I knew. I was suffering from a state of paranoia and I was having a panic attack just walking through the streets of Manchester en route to the venue - it was a strange evening.

I got to the venue, watched the opener, went outside for a cigarette between bands and caught up with a few familiar faces, all whilst internally trying to convince myself that I wasn’t going to die (I clearly wasn’t, but again, it was a weird night). Then The Smith Street Band came on. I stood by myself, fixated on the stage, the band and their music and then it happened.

I still can’t describe what happened during that 40 minute set, but I just remember feeling pure ecstasy, amazement and awe at what I was witnessing and hearing. I had forgotten that I was even panicking in the first place and I was just enthralled with the energy coming from that stage and every song they played.

I will never forget that gig and I will listen to that band from now on, as long as they keep releasing music. Oh, and the Australian accent is just bloody awesome.

Check out Joe McCorriston on Bandcamp here and on Facebook here.

Album Review: This Is For You by The Suicide Tuesdays (by Emma Prew)

I stumbled across The Suicide Tuesdays whilst browsing Bandcamp, drawn to the panda on the album artwork and their ‘folk punk’ tag. However, I must admit, that when I read their band name I was a little put off by the use of the word ‘suicide’. That was before I looked up what the phrase actually means – ‘suicide Tuesday’ is used to describe the depressive period that typically occurs midweek, you could also say ‘midweek blues’ but I suppose that doesn’t have the same ring to it when it comes to band names.

At the time when I stumbled across The Suicide Tuesdays there was only one song streaming from their forthcoming album, This Is For You, so I immediately bookmarked the page and liked the band on Facebook. The band, it turned out, are a four piece from Melbourne, Australia formed by singer-songwriter, and the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Joe Guiton. Their debut release This Is For You was released on 18th January on Whisk & Key Records and I took a listen as soon as it dropped. (Then life got busy and it took me longer than I would have liked to get my thoughts down but better late than never!)

This Is For You opens with the appropriately titled The Start. This is the first of several short tracks that serve as interludes between sections, with this one, of course, introducing us to the album as a whole. The Start features an acoustic guitar and some rather interesting vocal parts. I say ‘interesting’ as two voices are reciting the same lyrics but one, presumably Joe, is singing with a quiet passion while the other voice recites the words more like a spoken word piece. This is not really something I’ve heard before but it certainly grabbed my attention. The last lyric of the song is ‘I’m saying goodbye just to stay alive.’  and those words stay with you as the song fades out into Joe VS Joe. This second track is the first offering of what full band Suicide Tuesdays are all about. Joe VS Joe is upbeat and catchy with a fine balance between electric and acoustic instruments. The drums are suitably pounding but there is a definite folk punk sound in the acoustic guitar elements of the song. Lyrics wise this is a heartfelt song about fighting conflicting emotions within yourself. On the one hand you want to go out there and do things spontaneously while part of you feels more apprehensive and like you are wasting time. I’m pretty sure most of us can relate to these struggles, even if just a little. ‘So sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, Just pushing myself up hill.’ Just when you think the song is slowing to an acoustic ending, the volume is cranked up again for an energetic outro.

Beer, Whiskey, Friends and Regrets (Part 1) is the third song on This Is For You and begins with some lovely rumbling drums and reverby bass guitar. The pace is fairly fast and soon gets your toes tapping, perhaps even stomping when the electric guitar comes in after the first 30 seconds. I think, and it may well be, one of the guitars almost sounds like slide guitar which has me thinking that this track wouldn’t sound out of place on Chuck Ragan’s Revival Tour. The vocals open with the lines ‘It hasn’t been the best of years, Nothing’s gone the right way, Don’t you think?’ and sets the tone for the song. Beer, Whiskey, Friends and Regrets is a song with a reasonably sad subject; having lost a friend, or friends even, in the last year but being able finding comfort in those remaining friends around you. This is a song that reflects on how important it is to stick together with those who mean the most to you and collectively not giving up. It’s a very affirming song – something that I’m soon to learn is recurring on this album. I’m fairly certain the next song, 1997, was the one song that the band had streaming ahead of the full album and therefore the first thing I heard of theirs. There are some awesomely jangly acoustic guitars in this track alongside a bigger sounding, more melodic electric guitar – I can see why this was the first song released. 1997 is a nostalgic song about being with your friends when younger and first discovering a love for music – both listening to it and playing it. But most importantly, this song is about not giving up on your dreams. The chorus is flawless – ‘And I can’t remember the words to my own songs but I can remember that pact we made in 1997, To follow every dream we had, To not give up on trying until we’re dead.’ Following 1997 is Interlude 1 (Down & Lost), the shortest of three interludes on the album at under 30 seconds in length. Rather than being an instrumental interlude, this is actually a vocals only piece that starts with the cheery ‘Looks like we’ve fucked up again…’ and continues in a similar vein. It serves as a thoughtful breather between faster paced tracks. 

Up next is a song that is simply titled Dave. Beginning after a yell of ‘one, two, three!’, Dave is a super fast paced and intense song. At only a minute in length, it makes perfect sense that the speed would be amped up but, even so, it took me a little by surprise after the lengthier mid-tempo tracks. But then there’s a slower section in the middle that I wasn’t expecting either. Of course, given the entire length of the song, it doesn’t last long. Dave is a song about a friend called Dave. There’s not much more to it and I like that. I guess it’s somewhat the idea that ‘we’ve all got a friend called [insert name here]’. Following on from Dave is Buckets. This song opens with one of the funkiest, jazziest and catchy guitar riffs of This Is For You. Before you know it the lead guitar take a backseat for shout-along vocals – ‘I can remember…’ – accompanied by rhythmic drums and a rich bassline. Buckets is another nostalgic track about getting older and forgetting certain things – like the words to your songs, names of people you’ve met and the days of the week – while you can remember other things from years ago. The song has a catchy and simple chorus ‘Buckets thinks I’m old.’ which, complete with that guitar riff from the start of the song, makes Buckets a big hit with me. Forever And A Day is track number eight and it starts out with a mid-tempo, melodic guitar introduction before the vocals come in. The brilliant opening lyrics of the song are just asking to be shouted along to. ‘We are the broken, We are the damned, We are hopeless six stringed heroes with calloused hands, We are the gifted, We are the flawed, We silent remains of disaster, But will not be ignored.’ And then there’s the chorus which is even more shout-along-able – ‘We’ll sing ’til our lungs burn out, Until all the whiskey is gone and there’s nothing to sing about…’  Forever And A Day reflects on what music means to The Suicide Tuesdays. Being in a band and writing songs to get their views and feelings across is clearly extremely important to this band. The second verse looks at people who could perhaps be considered the complete opposite of the punk rock scene, privileged and corrupt homophobic and misogynistic type folk. This is one of those songs that I want to tell everyone I know to listen to because I love it so much – definitely one of the standout tracks on This Is For You.

The second interlude of the album, Interlude 2 (Give Me Something), features some subtle background [acoustic] guitar with slightly fuzzy vocals that hold your attention immediately. ‘Give me something gold to start the melody, Give me something white to mix with grey…’  The interludes on this album are more than just instrumental filler, they are concise songs in their own right with poignant subject matter regardless of the length of the song. This one is actually 1 second longer than non-interlude track Dave! The electricity and energy is back for Blood On Your Hands, the tenth track on This Is For You. Pounding drums and melodic guitars give way to the vocals of the first verse. ‘You could have just walked away, You could have let it pass, But you had to show your friends that you don’t take no shit…’ This is a song full of anger but the band manages this without being overly aggressive. Joe sings passionately about what he believes in or, perhaps moreso, what he doesn’t believe in – cowardly people who start fights with vulnerable people and the unthinkable consequences. This is one of the longer songs on the album and features some fine whoa-ohs that back up the lead vocal. There is a sense of building in a musical breakdown section around the 3 minutes mark, you think another chorus or at least some sort of vocal section is coming but then the volume cuts out and we have a lone acoustic guitar section to end the song. More surprises. Toning things down completely is an acoustic song that allows Joe’s voice and lyrics to be the main focus, Juchie. The song opens with ‘Yet another drunken walk home, Rain is pouring down on the last cigarette I own, And it seems to be a part that I play well, If I believed in a soul I wouldn’t have one to sell.’ ‘Just found out a friend of mine had died, I don’t know how it happened but they called it suicide, And I’m struggling to find the strength to take a breath, Can’t stand to think of him feeling like he has nothing left.’ I could quote the whole song because it’s simply beautiful, heartbreaking and genuinely made me feel really emotional. Juchie is a song about dealing with grief and going through something that no one should have to – losing a friend to suicide. Until people start taking mental health issues seriously, there can never be too many songs about this sort of thing. And if you’ve lost someone or are struggling yourself with depression then songs like these are import in showing that you are not alone. There’s actually a surprise switch to the full band towards the end which gives a great sense of not being alone in this. This is an amazing song.

The third interlude, Interlude 3 (Have We Lost Our Minds), follows a similar format to the second, fuzzy vocals and subtle acoustic guitar. ‘Have we lost our minds?, All signs point to yes, Have we lost a grip on who we used to be?’ The interlude leads us nicely into the penultimate song Leave Us Be, which is another of the standout tracks – although everything on this album is top stuff to be fair. It’s almost like the band has been saving the very best stuff for, almost, last. Leave Us Be has another catchy opening guitar riff has your head nodding along instantly. Featuring mid-tempo verses and a big singalong chorus, this is quite simply the perfect punk rock tune. The incredible chorus tackles the subject of friends who are gone from this world but certainly not forgotten. ‘We’ll sing these songs for the broken hearted, To help them find their way, We’ll raise a glass for the dearly departed, We’ll carry on the fight screaming their names.’ This ought to be a sad song but if anything it is uplifting and encouraging. There is a sort of positive outlook to the song and we could all use a little more positivity in our lives. Once again, I feel like I could quote the whole song as the lyrics are just excellent here but two other lines that really stood out to me in the second verse were ‘’Cause we don’t discriminate in gender, race or age’ and ’Perfect in our own imperfect way.’  After a second rousing chorus, we are treated to a short guitar solo before the last chorus. I would love to sing along to this song live and am hypothetically planning a trip to Melbourne in my head. Bringing This Is For You to a close is Beer, Whiskey, Friends and Regrets (Part 2). The final song begins quietly with just vocals, soft acoustic guitar and no other accompanying instruments. The lyrics are very questioning – ‘Can I give this up? Can I walk away? Can I leave this all behind? Will I stay the same?’ The acoustic guitar gradually becomes more prominent and entices the listener – will the full band kick in? Of course! This is the finale after all. You definitely can’t accuse the band of rushing this last song song. The volume increases slowly but surely and a sense of passion increases with it. After 4 minutes the lyrics ‘…about beer whiskey, friends and our…’ are deliberately cut off – perhaps because these are not regrets anymore? But wait, this is a 7 and a half minute track and Beer, Whiskey, Friends and Regrets (Part 2) finished after 4 minutes. Yep, that’s right, there’s a bonus bit at the end of This Is For Your – if I’m honest, I didn’t know artists still did that. The extra bit is similar to the other interludes on the album, with the vocals being the main focus. The final words of This Is For You are about trying your best even when times get tough. That and a nice little mention of Bad Religion. What’s not to love?

I was honestly absolutely blown away by The Suicide Tuesdays and their debut album, This Is For You. I’m so glad that I bookmarked the album on Bandcamp and wasn’t put off by their band name for long. I know we’re only at the beginning of the year but The Suicide Tuesdays have set a ridiculously high bar for 2018 and my favourite albums of the year. This album is emotional, honest, uplifting and, well, quite simply incredible. Please just listen to it.

Stream and download This Is For You on Bandcamp here. And like The Suicide Tuesdays on Facebook here. What are you waiting for?

This album review was written by Emma Prew.

Album Review: Disorders Of Consciousness by Hack The Mainframe

Hack The Mainframe are a fast melodic punk band from the Central Coast area of Australia. The five piece, which features Heath Rowley (vocals), Nick Oberg (guitar), Leroy Markwell (guitar), Paddy Demps (bass) and Zac Thomas drums, formed in 2014. Last December they released their debut full length titled Disorders Of Consciousness on Pee Records in Australia and Disconnect Disconnect Records here in the UK. The Australian punk rock scene is absolutely incredible at the moment so I was looking forward to checking this album out.

Disorders Of Consciousness begins with the song R.E.M Sleep. This track starts how you might expect a fast melodic punk album to begin with some technical guitars that build the song up until the vocals hit. It's always great to hear band's singing in their own accent and that's certainly the case for Heath Rowley with his thick Aussie voice sounding great backed by the rest of the band. The track is about dreaming and the escapism that comes with it, where there are no limits but endless possibilities. The second track, Col, is more of a skate punk song and is absolutely superb. There's a bouncy melody that is infectious and grabs you very quickly. Col is one of those songs that despite its upbeat sound, is actually quite a sad song. This is about the struggles of addiction which sadly lead to the death of a friend of the band. This song serves a couple of purposes, firstly as a message to people about the dangers of drinking too much and getting addicted and second as a tribute to a friend. Up next is the song Anxiety. This hard hitting and fast paced number will quickly lodge it's place in your head. It's about dealing with anxiety and letting it take over your life. As the song goes on it talks about wanting to stay home and not do things to feel safe but as it gets to the end Rowley sings "my anxiety gets the best of me, but my anxiety won't be the end of me." This makes me feel like things will get better for the protagonist in the song.

Next Week Never Came is the rather bleak sounding title of the fourth song. The song is about not being able to see a loved one before they passed away because you were putting off seeing them. The song starts off in a slow and sombre way with some  gentle guitar work before things pick up and the vocals come in. The real high point of the song is when some incredible harmonies are sung by the band. They do this amazing job of keep your interest peaked in the song and also add some emotion to proceedings. Hack The Mainframe pick up the mood on the following song, Amy. The song is an ode to a friend of the band who can be difficult but is also just wonderful. It's a bit of a sing-a-long drinking song that will get the best reaction from the crowd. Again the incredible harmonies of the band are on display at the end of the track and I really adore them. It's not the most serious of songs but it's damn good fun! The fun continues on Coriander. This is a simple song about hating the taste of coriander. Amusingly this is one of the hardest and most angry songs on Disorders Of Consciousness. Hack The Mainframe clearly have a passionate dislike of this particular herb. Track number seven is titled Intoxication and is very intense in its sound. Obviously this song is about getting drunk, due to the stresses of the world getting too much for you and using alcohol to escape. Zac Thomas' drums stand out on the song, providing a strong foundation for the song that the band build on brilliantly.

The eighth song on the album is named Baggage. This is a slower and more anthemic side to the Hack The Mainframe sound. The pacing of Baggage is very deliberate and doesn't stray from its slow, methodical style until the very end when the band really let loose. Baggage is about being affected by your past and wanting to run away and forget about it. The penultimate song is Boy With A Gun. To start with the track sounds like an updated version of 80s hardcore punk rock which Hack The Mainframe have brilliantly intertwined with their own melodic punk sound. A very nice mix of the past and the future. Boy With A Gun is about the use of young boys by terrorist extremists. It looks at the loss of young people who have been brainwashed and the effects this has on the boys' families. This is a unique and very interesting topic for a song. This is also very brave songwriting by Hack The Mainframe. The convention of writing about this topic is normally to write about the effects of terrorism by the innocent people who sadly lose their lives dues to attacks, rather than looking at the people who carry out the attacks. Last up we have Save Yourself. After a stop start beginning we have a soaring melodic skate punk track. It's about, you guessed it, saving yourself. This is a great, positive and motivational song to finish a superb album on.

I loved Disorders Of Consciousness from my very first listen. Australian punk rock continues to churn out more and more incredible punk rock. From the genre of melodic punk rock, Aussie bands The Decline and Local Residential Failure have been making names for themselves all over the world. I fully expect Hack The Mainframe to start coming up in conversations about best Australian punk bands very soon.

Stream and download Disorders Of Consciousness here: https://disconnectdisconnectrecords.bandcamp.com/album/disorders-of-consciousness

Like Hack The Mainframe here: https://www.facebook.com/hackthemainframe/

This review was written by Colin Clark.