Browsing Tag

Proto Punk

Lifeform Is That Hidden Promise Dragging Alt-Rock Rebellion Out of Its Borrowed Uniform

Posted on 16 June 2026

That Hidden Promise refused to rebel against hegemony while wearing anyone else’s uniform in Lifeform; rock and punk may be rife with refusals to fall in line, but not spotting the irony in how they are doing exactly that by emulating their pioneers and contemporaries is its own form of post-modern irony. That Hidden Promise, aka Wayne Lee, dropped an earworm that is as ready for stadiums as mainstream radio, shaking up the static in the same vein as Kula Shaker while delivering the same sticky-sweet protestive power as the Manic Street Preachers.

Lifeform leaves everything a little rough around the edges as a nod to the surge of authenticity following the proto-punk movement. As the lead single from the forthcoming second That Hidden Promise album, it calls for colour, connection and meaning inside systems designed to control, exploit and promote herd mentality. Written, mixed, mastered, programmed and performed entirely by Lee, the single carries its anti-conformist message through every self-made contour.

What will undoubtedly be one of the most kinetic singles of the year, Lifeform is almost scarily efficacious in its ability to convince you to shake off the pressure of conformity that weighs down your soul as you attempt to be the perfect conformist in a clusterfuck of an imperfect world. With the swagger of the alt-90s running right through the sun-bleached optics of the track, you can’t help but feel more carefree by the outro.

Lifeform is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DECOSTER UNIVERSE Sent Quasi-Cosmic Resonance and Existential Inquiry Through the 70s Folk Rock Journey, ‘Bus to Texas’

Posted on 28 March 2026
DECOSTER UNIVERSE

Refined with grace, quasi-cosmic resonance, and the rare euphony of accordance, DECOSTER UNIVERSE delivered Bus to Texas with enough emotional force to move audiophiles to tears. Backed by a deep musical foundation that includes formal study at the Manhattan School of Music and performances across the US, the UK, and China, DECOSTER brings both technical command and soul-searching purpose to the release, which exhibits his belief in how music can lift people beyond the daily grind.

Imagine Bowie without Ziggy Stardust, heading instead towards a synthesis of college radio rock, folksy proto-punk, 70s rock, and psychedelic soul, and you’ll get close to the interstellar tour de force DECOSTER UNIVERSE unleashes here. As he launches existential inquiries and points out societal hypocrisies, he comes through as a cerebral cynic with a soul of gold, one that pours easily into the production and keeps all of its purity intact.

Bus to Texas moves as an extended chameleonic amble, carrying some of the most delicious guitar work you’ll hear from an independent artist in 2026. There’s thought in every turn, yet the track never tightens to feel pretentiously stiff. It breathes and it reaches all the right places… that should include your playlists.

Bus to Texas will be available to stream everywhere later in 2026. In the meantime, follow the artist on Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Siggy Confronted Neural Control in the Sardonic Snarl of Their Post-Punk Hit, ‘Wirehead’

Posted on 15 March 2026

Take the swagger of Pavement, the kaleidoscopes of polyphonia associated with Grandaddy, the raucously raw guitars of proto-punk, and drift in the postmodernist conviction of post-punk, and you are left with something that snarls in the same vein as Siggy’s Wirehead. Through vocals that give John Lydon a run for his money and the woozy experimentalism of Magazine, Siggy prove that hooks can cut just as sharply inside eccentric hymns about what we stand to lose if humanity slips into the ether and algorithms quietly delete autonomy as they do in plastic pop. Beyond the playful synths, this harbingering hit exposits an unavoidable future where Elon Musk has full access to our synapses, and it does so without slipping into parody or preaching.

The track carries that riled-up intelligence Siggy has honed since their late 90s inception in Los Angeles. Formed around Galen Buckwalter’s vocal volatility, alongside Ryan Howes on guitar, Deborah Buckwalter on bass, and Paul Netherton on drums, the band have spent decades balancing urgency with songwriting that hits hard without switching off its brain. Wirehead, the title release from their forthcoming album, pushes further. Inspired by Buckwalter’s direct participation in a brain-computer interface study, the record threads neural-signal-derived textures through loud, hook-driven arrangements. The concept digs into agency, control, stimulation, and overload, asking what remains human in a wired world without resorting to sci-fi cosplay theatrics.

Siggy’s live reputation backs up their reputation for ferocity, favouring loud amps, tight execution, and a no-frills stage presence that prioritises intensity over gloss. With Wirehead, they amplify punk’s original spirit of risk and defiance, charging it through a future-filtered lens that feels unsettlingly close to home.

Wirehead is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zoo TG rolled with loveably rogue rock n roll charm in, ‘Too Late Venus’ 

Posted on 26 November 2025

When it comes to feel-good bluesy pop rock with a nostalgic hint of proto-punk, few bands embody that unpretentious spirit quite like Zoo TG. The Edinburgh-based trio channel pure, unfiltered serotonin through the strings of their standout EP, The Zoo Group, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Too Late Venus. The track unwinds like a rhythmic stroll through rose-tinted memories, guided by riffs that ripple with sunlit swagger. It’s a soundtrack to the loveable rogue’s recollections — those who’ve lived, loved, and still move with the grin of someone who’s never lost their devotion to the rock n roll way of life.

In Too Late Venus, the guitars lick through warmth and vitality while the vocals weave through imagery so vivid it borders on cinematic. There’s no sense of pretension, just raw melodic honesty that grips as much as it charms. Zoo TG manage to stir nostalgia without slipping into sentimentality, evoking the same joie de vivre that once defined the early proto-punk and blues-rock crossover. There’s a looseness to their sound that feels both vintage and present, a knowing wink to the past that never lingers too long before pushing forward.

Formed around the talents of Rosco, Tucks, and Eddie the Bass, Zoo TG have made their home in Edinburgh’s independent scene, crafting their signature sound from their own purpose-built studio.

Too Late Venus is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 
Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zegovia Let the Bass Growl Them to Glory in PREFAB

Posted on 27 August 2025
Zegovia

Zegovia supercharged the sticky-sweet hooks of proto-punk and power pop with a raw rock energy that revels in guitar indulgence and the kind of rolling rhythm sections that take your pulse hostage, pulling it into the possession of pure, visceral volition. It is a sound only possible from prodigal sons of rock who have found the perfect equilibrium between restraint and raucous annihilation.

With Prefab, the band picks up where the Ramones left off while driving the anthemic heights of acts like Foo Fighters into their own indelible mark and letting their basslines growl them to glory. The thematic heart of the track throbs through the instrumentals, each chord and beat a defiant nod to chaos embraced rather than contained. The lyrics invite you into their fever dream without offering neat resolutions, instead giving space for interpretations that melt into distortion.

Since their debut LP OBSERVE, Zegovia have made their defiance a signature. Prefab is no exception, built to be felt more than understood, pushing their sound further into abstract terrain while holding onto their instinct for catharsis.

PREFAB is now available on all major streaming platforms. Find your preferred way to listen and connect with the band via this link. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Crooked Cranes Thaw Nostalgia in the Sonic Heatwave of ‘Mehico’ with Proto-Punk Sun-Stroked Intimacy

Posted on 26 May 2025
Mehico by Crooked Cranes

With their latest track, Crooked Cranes set a reel of vintage college radio static on fire with proto-punk soul and surf rock swagger. Hailing from Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, this group of lifelong friends, Josh Faw, Dylan Hornaday, Andrew Bateman, and Josh’s younger brother, Addison, on bass, didn’t hold back while laying their influences bare. You can feel the aftershocks of Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill, and The White Stripes in their foundations, but this tape-deck bruiser refuses to sit neatly beside any one influence. It glows with its own baked-out fever.

‘Mehico’ spills out like a sun-bleached sojourn between DIY indie rock adolescence and late-night poetic abandon. The angular guitar lines flicker like mirages over asphalt, while the rallying vocal delivery scorches with the kind of imagery that sears itself into your synapses. It’s the kind of track you can picture driving the emotional undercurrents of a 00s cult classic like The OC, equal parts sonic catharsis and golden-hour haze.

The lo-fi charm isn’t a by-product—it’s a calculated choice that wraps you in the warmth of nostalgic radio waves. Crooked Cranes channel the spirit of The Psychedelic Furs on a beach retreat, lifting stylistic threads from R.E.M.’s most emotionally honest cuts without ever slipping into mimicry. There’s euphoria here, curated not with gloss, but grit sanded down to something oddly soothing.

‘Mehico’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Crawdad Crash Rolls Back the Years with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls’

Posted on 6 March 2025

Crawdad Crash kicked rhythm’s doors in with Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls, setting a raucous tone as the opening strike of the Where Are All the Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls EP. Riding in on a wave of the golden age of rock, Steve “Crawdaddy” Crawford drags us back to the bright lights and big hair of the 80s, where excess ruled and polish took a backseat to pure energy. The lo-fi production strips away the gloss, leaving behind a track that feels like it was ripped straight from the golden era rather than painstakingly reconstructed.

With all the glam of New York Dolls, the proto-punk charge of the Ramones, and the hard rock adrenaline of Twisted Sister, the track barrels forward without a care for modern trends. Joan Jett may be a dying breed in 2025, but Crawdad Crash is reviving the scene by keeping the fire burning with a sound that refuses to be tamed.

By pulling from hard rock, punk, blues, glam, and power pop, Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls isn’t an imitation of the past—it’s a continuation.

The single is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Disco Lizards’ Life Lessons: A Post-Punk Bite with Anthemic Teeth

Posted on 19 February 2025

Disco Lizards’ latest single, Life Lessons, doesn’t hesitate before it goes straight for the jugular with an instant hook of augmented indie post-punk guitars. As the infectious onslaught of vocals rolls across the solid rhythm section, the track sears with sardonic wit. It hits with the bouncy, brashy glamour of Ramones and New York Dolls, while vocally, Disco Lizards land somewhere between The Fall and Half-Man Half-Biscuit, ensuring every syllable drips with a knowing smirk.

Founded by Matt Stolworthy in 2018, Disco Lizards started etching their legacy in the underground with their 2020 debut album Ride Ride Ride, followed by the 2022 EP Roll Over Red Rover. After reshuffling their lineup in 2024, with Mo El Shalakani, Jack Dunnigan, Nino Savoia, and Josephine Keller joining the ranks, they reignited their live reputation with three sold-out shows across London.

That raucous to the nth degree energy bleeds into Life Lessons, a track that bottles the chaos of city life, dating misadventures, and the grind of survival, all served with tongue-in-cheek cynicism. It gives you a taste for the live experience, but you won’t be fully sated until you’ve gorged on the real deal. And with a new album in the works, the appetite is only going to grow.

Life Lessons is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Miki Doras soundtracked the soul of NYC with their debut release, Uptown, Downtown…

Posted on 19 October 2024

As a band who lives, breathes, and riffs right through the grit of the NYC rock n roll underground, The Miki Doras, who have been cutting their teeth in dive bars across the city, on rooftops in Brooklyn, warehouses in Williamsburg and house parties in Bushwick, have finally unleashed their debut single, Uptown, Downtown…

The debut may have been 15 years in the making, but the hit just goes to show how syntheses of proto-punk, garage rock and power-pop will always be timeless. The filthy-with-distortion guitars cross the borderlands from unholy into pornographic terrain while the percussive pulse of the track feeds frenetic (teenage) kicks into the stellar slice of songwriting which affirms New York City has a new hit-making powerhouse in its underbelly.

If it’s been a while since you got caught up in the raucous euphoria of a rock chorus; hit play and see how high you can get with Uptown, Downtown… The chameleonic vocals never allow you to feel comfortable in the release; between the unchained snarls and the Blue Oyster Cult-esque harmonies, you’ll be thrown all across the emotional spectrum.

Uptown, Downtown… was officially released as the title single from The Miki Doras’ debut EP on August 28th, and there’s plenty more brashy rock n roll glamour in store with the band’s debut LP, …On a New York Night, in the pipeline. Stream the debut single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergas

Maverick Smith walked with garage rock giants in ‘Holding On’

Posted on 17 October 2024

Maverick Smith’s seminal single ‘Holding On’ homages an epoch when rock ruled with a raucous yet refined hand while moving far beyond pastiche. Featured on the collaborative album ‘With Friends & Imperfections’, born between the synergy of 22 rock legends in their own right, the single synthesises elements of power pop and proto-punk, steeped in the nostalgic vibes of the 60s and 70s.

The keys dance with an uplifting tempo reminiscent of the 70s pop-rock scene, while the gritty guitar chords transport you to the nascent proto-punk streets of New York City as surf-pop harmonies swell in the background, bringing a taste of the Beach Boys with a sprinkle of Cheap Trick’s feel-good panache.

Emerging from a decade-long pause, Maverick Smith, steered by the renowned Sean Boynes, reinvented their approach to music creation. The album, recorded live in the Ohio Valley, harnesses an organic sound that modern digital productions can seldom mirror. This collection of tracks, brought to life by a cadre of Grammy laureates and indie rock veterans, is less about technical perfection and more about the palpable, unrefined energy of friends feeding off each other’s fervour. You couldn’t ask for a more potent rock-licked serotonin fix.

With Friends and Imperfections was officially released on October 1st. Stream the collaborative LP in full on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast