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Pop Punk

Tune into Rebels in Stereo’s riotous punk rock anthem, Lace of Steel

Posted on 17 June 2023
CoVault by Rebels in Stereo

‘Lace of Steel’ is the riotously hooky seminal single from Chicago’s premier pop-punk-influenced outfit, Rebels in Stereo. Taken from their EP, CoVault, the overdriven to the nth degree hit reels you in with the edged and tight anthemics, but it is the vignette weaved through the high-octane release that keeps you immersed.

With a similar narrative to Thrash Unreal by Against Me! any female-identifying outliers that are looking for resonance will get more than they have bargained for when they delve into the punk rock anthem, which gains momentum through the modernist melodic power metal licks and the songwriting chops that are as sharp as a butcher’s cleaver.

With a new LP in the pipeline, there’s little doubt that 2023 will be the year of Rebels in Stereo. It takes far more than a powerful set of pipes to become an arresting frontwoman; thankfully, Cassidy’s vocal range is as wide-spanning as her talents in weaving soul into her superlative harmonies.

Stream and purchase Lace of Steel by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lunacy Commission created a a riff-roaring ride of hard-hitting euphoria with their debut single, Shadow of a Doubt

Posted on 12 June 2023

With touches of Stone Sour and Foo Fighters around the razor-sharp post-hardcore/pop punk hybrid hooks, the debut single, Shadow of a Doubt, from New York’s freshest outfit, Lunacy Commission, is a riff-roaring ride of hard-hitting euphoria.

Any fans of Downstrait, Papercut Massacre, and the Veer Union won’t want to hang around before implanting Shadow of a Doubt on their playlists and saving a spot on their radar for Lunacy Commission.

Their juggernautically strong debut may have set the bar high, but we have no doubt that the best is yet to come from the instrumentally stitched tight outfit, which finished cutting their teeth while playing in the punk band The Show-Offs during middle school before remerging on the airwaves in their new outfit formed during lockdown.

Shadow of a Doubt hit the airwaves on the 2nd of June; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shift your perceptions in a brighter direction with ORCHAD’s riotously synthy call to arms, DAMAGED GOODS

Posted on 9 June 2023

‘DAMAGED GOODS’ is the latest hyper-cosmic feat of synth-driven alt-rock from Montreal’s most monolithic powerhouse, ORCHAD.

With pinches of pop-punk making the hooks even sharper, this riotous call to arms to everyone who knows how it feels to disregard themselves as broken and too idiosyncratic to love is enough to shift self-perception in a far brighter direction.

The riffs that will make you reminisce about Dragonforce are just a fraction of the hard-hitting impact of DAMAGED GOODS. With an entire generation at risk of being lost to entropy and apathy, ORCHAD delivered an upbeat anthem, fierce enough in its exhilaration to affirm that it is society that is royally fucked, not the people living through the fallout.

If you could imagine what it would sound like if the Black Parade was written today, you will get an idea of the heart-in-throat resonance you will sink your teeth into when you hit play.

“The song is about the struggles and challenges of life and mental illness, including the pressure to conform and fit in with societal norms. It encourages the listener to let go of the expectations that society places on them and to accept themselves for who they are, flaws and all.

We should all focus instead on finding solace through healthy forms of self-expression. Everyone is going through their own struggles and we really are all “damaged goods.” If we focus on loving ourselves first and “dance in the rain” you might just be able to ease the pain.”

DAMAGED GOODS will hit the airwaves on June 9th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get down with the cognitive sickness with Sarah Sunday’s hypersonic pop-punk hit, all the world is crazy

Posted on 8 June 2023

‘all the world is crazy’ is ironically a sentiment that no one of sane mind could disagree with. When Sarah Sunday used it as the proclamation in her latest hyper pop-punk anthem, she made it impossible for her audience not to get down with the endemic of cognitive sickness.

The future-pop elements around the pop-punk guitar-driven hooks created the EDM evolution that the genre has never known it needed but has silently been crying out for. If any track has what it takes to make the masses shake off the depressing presumption that they’re outliers for feeling suffocated by entropy, it’s the anthemically sticky-sweet triumph.

Her uplifting vocal energy augmenting the lyrics, which cut right to the core of the madness we’ve tried to put our heads in the sand and ignore, ensured all the world is crazy is one of the most seminal anthems of the summer. We utterly adore her.

all the world is crazy was officially released on the 1st of May; stream the aptly zany official music video via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chandra’s Lighters to the Sky is a pop punk-hooked hit for the dreamers

Posted on 2 May 2023
https://soundcloud.com/listentochandra/lighters-to-the-sky/s-JjGxeKmioBv?si=ee8aab36962d40619a6fa6a62f049fe9&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Holding your lighters in the air at rock shows might be a slightly nostalgic way to signify how much a hit has touched your soul, but it’s a pretty fitting parable for the vintage rock aesthetics in Chandra’s latest single, Lighters to the Sky, which will throw you right back to the early 00s.

If you can imagine what Glen Hansard’s single, Falling Slowly, would sound like if it was boldly augmented with pop-punk hooks, you’ll get a great idea of the songwriting chops the Bristol, UK-based solo artist possesses.

Lyrically, Lighters to the Sky is an ode to the big dreamers whose visions are often met with cynicism from people with smaller ambitions. It is a stunning reminder that no one will ever be able to see the future you’re painting in your mind until you reach your respective top and exhibit it all for all to see.

Lighters to the Sky will officially release on April 28. Stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It Sucks: Energetic Adelaide band Late Night Lies breaks through the Small Town Bullshit

Posted on 30 April 2023

Showing us through the exalted frustration of a tiny town where everyone knows each other’s business, Late Night Lies displays the mood of so many who feel rather trapped like a caged bird just waiting to fly free from the mind pollution forming like an angry cloud on Small Town Bullshit.

Late Night Lies is an Adelaide, Australia-based indie pop-punk quintet that sings about real-life issues and have a sound which is practically impossible to dislike due to its catchy style.

“We’ve all been there – feeling stuck and desperate to break free from mediocrity,” say Late Night Lies. “This song is about that feeling and finding the strength to move on and live your own life.” ~ Late Night Lies

Sending the world something to be inspired by despite the easy-to-understand resentment caused by being locked inside a small town, Late Night Lies shall change mindsets and teach others the life so many have. A sterling performance is on the cards for anyone who wants to dance away the boredom.

Small Town Bullshit from Adelaide, Australia-based indie pop-punk band Late Night Lies is a raw track which reminds one of Blink 182 before they got way too famous. Soaring high and looking for more than 1 bar to play in, this is a tremendous performance to be proud of from an emerging band with so much flair.

Turn this up loud on Spotify.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Pop-Punk trailblazer, Brooklyn Belton, unveiled the ultimate adversity aftercare anthem, Just Fine

Posted on 27 April 2023

Starting with an instant hook that sounds like it came straight out of the Bowling for Soup arsenal, the debut single, Just Fine, from the Ohio pop-punk trailblazer, Brooklyn Belton, effortlessly became one of our favourite alt-rock earworms of 2023 so far.

With an instrumental arrangement so tight it is practically corseted, Brooklyn Belton polished the punk rock genre with her anthemic slice of stellar songwriting, which won’t fail to leave you galvanised for the way the exhilarant guitars wrap around her lyrics that compel you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and deal with the cards of adversity your autonomy has dealt you.

When the chorus comes around, you’ll lose yourselves in the euphoric energy while simultaneously finding yourself in the candid introspection that perceptibly oozes from the wounds of a personal battle.

Just Fine hit the airwaves on April 14. Check it out on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Donny Meowz concocted a cocktail of cats, pop-punk and entropy in his latest single, Kitty Crushed

Posted on 21 April 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pXxJ0-bhEg

After spinning a charming pop-punk tale about a cat and its psych ward-frequenting owner, Donny Meowz will be irresistible to crazy cat ladies the world over after the launch of his latest music video, Kitty Crushed. You can probably count me among those enamoured masses.

No longer is Plea from a Cat Named Virtue the best track that traverses themes of mental health and feline affection. Donny Meowz hit all the right notes with his insanity-encompassing hit that rolls with all the entropic punches. Keep your next mental break at bay with the stellar ode to 00s emo.

Check out the official video for Kitty Crushed by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pharsalia defied physics in their pop-punk revamp, Gravity Killer

Posted on 26 February 2023

Here to prove that emo was anything but a phase is the Delaware-hailing pop-punk revampers, Pharsalia, with their latest physics-defying single, Gravity Killer.

The catchy heart-in-throat choruses have kept their original form, and there’s plenty of punch in the dynamically bouncy guitar riffs, which keep you palpitatingly sweet in the lead up to the euphoric chaos in the pit-worthy choruses. The 5-piece has made a name for itself in the local scene and beyond with its fan-first lyrical relatability and approachability. This track is only going to take their renown to the next level.

If any single has what it takes to tear your attention away from the new album material from Fall Out Boy it is this scintillatingly scorned anthem for the disenfranchised that is super-charged with earworm-y energy.

Gravity Killer hit the airwaves with the force of a hadron collider on January 27th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Urban Cafe Crew launched a riotous pop-rock attack on society’s most blindly entitled generation with ‘Hey There Boomer, It’s Not OK’

Posted on 19 January 2023

Australia’s wittiest pop-rock outfit Urban Cafe Crew launched a riotous attack on the generation that set every subsequent one up for failure with their latest single, Hey There Boomer, It’s Not OK.

Every millennial and Gen Z can derive vindicating catharsis from the playfully scathing track that finds an antagonistically hooky way of relaying every boomer sin that has left the earth scorched and financial security out of reach for the majority.

But hey, the boomers had it the worst, right? Their determination to make the world worse for their offspring is warranted, right? They have a right to see any signs of social progression and drag it back with their knuckles that have scarcely been lifted off the floor since 1989, right?

Hey There Boomer, It’s Not OK was officially released on January 14th; check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast