ALBUM: Perennial – ‘In The Midnight Hour’

Connecticut art punks Perennial capture the spirit of post-hardcore with their ambitious sophomore LP In The Midnight Hour; an infectious, relentlessly noisy record, oozing ever-perennial punk energy and inspired by the eclectic sounds of their cultural New England surroundings. From watching post-hardcore arts-college/rec-centre gigs, like Q And Not U and The Blood Brothers, to indie record store discoveries like Nick Cave, Perennial absorbed and integrated an assortment of ideas, exploring and expanding their sound to deliver an unpredictable, complex punk album.

Following their debut EP Early Sounds for Night Owls (2015), their debut LP The Symmetry of Autumn Leaves (2017) and EP Food for Hornets (2019), multi-instrumentalists Chad Jewett, Chelsey Hahn and drummer Wil Mulhern – with encouragement from The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die’s Chris Teti – began deconstructing hardcore punk; maintaining their intensity, but emphasising a greater degree of creative expression. Opening with ‘The Skeleton Dance’, Perennial are loud enough to wake the dead, conjuring a whiplash-inducing combination of electronic instrumentation before diving headfirst into hardcore dance-punk anthem ‘In The Midnight Hour’, a worthy title track where the kinetic guitar riffs bite as hard as Hahn and Jewett’s haunting lyrics.

The angular art-punk attack continues with rambunctious groove on ‘Soliloquy For Neil Perry’, leading into the propulsive slam-punk-poetry of ‘Lauren Bacall In Blue’, an infectious, unapologetic track as alluring as its namesake. ‘Food For Hornets’ allows for further experimentation, with Hahn and Jewett trading screaming vocals over scuzzy post-hardcore guitar-hooks and aberrant effects. As Hahn chants “cut up the pattern, yeah,” the band do just that, descending into rumbling idiosyncratic melody.

Catch your breath during ‘Hey Eurydice’ because you won’t get another chance for the remainder of In The Midnight Hour. Conjuring the spirit of poet T. S. Eliot with abrasive, crushing rhythm and punishing percussion, ‘Tooth Plus Claw’ ends with a bang but not a whimper, whilst ‘Melody For A New Cornet’ follows with an equally aggressive performance from the atypical noise-rock trio, pounding basslines leading to the propulsive rhythm of ‘Hour Of The Wolf’. Narratively, ‘Perennial In A Haunted House’ is the ghostly quiet, long after the midnight hour has concluded, the haunted house of our own making. But musically, Perennial’s scrappy lead single couldn’t be louder! ‘I Am The Whooping Crane’ follows with an experimental blend of jazz-infused punk groove, poetic storytelling, and Motown flirtation (during its final seconds) before ‘Absolver’ closes the album with sonic ferocity.

12 songs, 22 minutes of erratic art punk for the nocturnal! Perennial’s unpredictable sophomore LP – “a punk album that doesn’t operate like a punk album” – rewards repeated spins, each track layered with enough weirdo punk energy and reckless abandon to keep the needle dropped.

 

Follow Perennial on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Omari Spears

Ken Wynne
@Ken_Wynne

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Track Of The Day: Spurge feat. Bri Foxx – ‘Why Would You?’

Having met in the Atlanta underground scene, queer feminist artists Bri Foxx and Jen Hodges decided to join forces after playing a show together in their respective bands. And now, we’re super excited to share the outcome of their collaboration – Spurge‘s catchy new single!

A song that carries the weight of failed relationships in its core, ‘Why Would You?‘ has a simple but relatable premise. The track as a whole is executed in a way that takes the familiar stab of heartache and draws out the raw and powerful emotions within.

The song reflects on relationships, written from a healthier place. The lyrics juxtapose a heartbroken chorus against wiser, more contemplative verses which creates a moving narrative – a story of growth following pain, only to revisit that same sorrow with another person later on. The fact that the separate sections were written during very different emotional times in the writer’s life is evident in the rich texture of the song. It makes for a more powerful piece that encapsulates the moments of pain in the context of a positive, hopeful journey. There is a cycle to it, but one that delicately balances the resignation to start over with a great sense of hope that next time will be the one.

The vocals pair elegantly with the feeling in the lyrics. You can really feel the rawness and the power in the lead line, whilst backing vocals lend weight to the emotional high points in the track – the hardest parts of the conversation that herald the end of a relationship. Every never and don’t go and why would you feels ripped from the moment.

This is bolstered by instruments that flow together really well. The string lines running through the track are playful and catchy, ramping up into very fun interludes that give the song a lot of energy.

‘Why Would You?’ ends with the lead vocal, alone, holding one final, powerful note. It clings to that emotional feeling down to the very last beats, lingering like the memory of an old love.

‘Why Would You?’ is accompanied by a gritty live video, directed by Tyree Smith and Daniel Medina. Watch it here:

Kirstie Summers
@actuallykurt

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ALBUM: The Other Ones – ‘The Other Ones’

London based pop-punk four-piece The Other Ones join Reckless Yes for the release of their self-reflective and self-titled debut album, following their two self-released extended plays: 2017’s Perfect Girl, Normal Boy and 2019’s Picking Up the Pieces. The result is an evolution of the infectious sound they have cultivated over the past five years; a fusion of punk-rock riffs and melancholic pop influences, from Buzzcocks and My Chemical Romance to The Smiths and Kate Bush.

Introducing The Other Ones with opening track ‘Drown You’, bassist Vicky and guitarist Nick whet the appetite for the rest of the record with their unrelenting energy; the power (pop) couple’s distorted riffs offset against front-woman Steph’s and Nick’s spellbinding vocal harmonisation. Next, the cathartic ‘On Top of Me’ reflects on mental health and the struggle that we have all experienced at some point in our lives: “I wake up every day / I wish I could run away / You say it’s getting better / Why do I feel the same?”

‘Forever Young’ is another self-reflective track, this time nostalgic for younger, care-free days; oozing fuzz and swooning vocalisation. Shimmering pop-punk that is the perfect addition to your next mixtape! Relationships are explored next in ‘Money’ (“We never kiss / We never touch / We only talk about money!”), a track that drenches the listener in distorted sound. Originally recorded for their first EP, The Other Ones instinctively let loose on this reimagining; particularly drummer Francis with a thrashing percussive soundscape reminiscent of Jord Samolesky’s latter work in Propagandhi.

Slowing everything down for ‘Out of My Head’, scuzzy guitar riffs define the track’s soft-loud-soft dynamic, transitioning into the acoustic track ‘I Wish I Was Your Boyfriend’, where gender identity is left ambiguous. Raw emotion (and a spacey bridge) dominates ‘Better Off Alone Again’, whilst ‘Wasted Youth’ sees The Other Ones picking up the pace with Vicky’s throbbing bass-lines and a punchy drum assault from Francis.

‘Sad Case’ is yet another reimagining from Perfect Girl, Normal Boy, further showcasing Nick and Steph’s overlapping vocal abilities, but it is the title track, ‘The Other Ones’ that truly defines their impressive debut. Propelled by the scuzziest of riffs, ‘The Other Ones’ is a fitting anthem for the misfits of society – the freaks who won’t conform to societal norms – firing on all cylinders with a fierce, impassioned performance from Steph. Fuck all societal expectations to be a certain way… Strive for complete self-expression: “We are the other ones / We are the other ones / We are the other ones / We are not alone!”

Closing The Other Ones’ self-titled LP is the ethereal acoustic soundscape ‘I Think Too Much’; an unexpected, but welcomed, departure from the preceding ten tracks of energetic DIY punk rock.

With their debut, The Other Ones have delivered infectious hooks, emotionally-driven melodies, and enough feverish feedback to reinforce their underlying message: Fuck you to anyone who has ever told you that you’re not enough just by being yourself. “We’re the freaks and we don’t belong.”

 

‘The Other Ones‘ is out now via Reckless Yes. Buy on bandcamp.

Ken Wynne
@Ken_Wynne

Photo Credit: Keira Anee Photography

 

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Track Of The Day: Argonaut – ’13’

“Where’s this song coming from?”, my two-year-old shouts excitedly as Argonaut‘s latest single plays through my phone’s tinny speaker, like something magical has just happened. And I don’t blame her. ’13’ has a beautiful, haunting quality.

The song opens with a dark, dirty bass, which makes singer Lorna’s bittersweet, bubblegum vocals and dreamy melodies even more affecting. “Carefree and young, I remember it well”, she sings, as though casting a longing glance back at her childhood. It’s melancholic, grown-up pop music with a real punk rock sensibility, reminiscent of Blondie, The Primitives or The Waitresses.

A fuzzy, downbeat dream of a song, ’13’ feels like the perfect soundtrack for a lockdown winter. As the days get colder and darker, and we spend even more time away from our friends and family, it’s a lush, lovely thing to get wrapped up in.

 

Vic Conway

 

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