PUP : "Who Will Look After the Dogs"

 

The band's 5th album finds them instantly kicking into the noisy brand of pop punk that owes more to Weezer and the Get-Up Kids than Blink-182. Their dense, rough-hewn guitar tone would have still been radio-ready in the '90s. The lyrics are just as clever as ever. They began experimenting with the layers of sound and were not attached to one mix for the entire album, as they let the bass slide up closer to front and center on "Concrete". Guitars jangle and shimmer in equal measure throughout a song. 

"Get Dumber" has a more clanging rock feel. It is pursued with a punk fervor. "Hunger For Death" might be the album's best lyrical narrative. There is an undercurrent of the 1950s doo-wop running through it. "Needed to Hear It" shows how they put the songs first and allow space for the vocal melody, and can do so without compromising the more abrasive aspects of their sound. "Paranoid" is a Black Sabbath song, but a more furious punk song. "Falling Outta Love" finds the vocals sitting back into the guitar as more of an effect; it is another song that finds the underlying influence of early 1950s pop as an influence. 

"Cruel" finds more rock n roll flowing through their veins, as the bass line anchors the song during the verses. The album is pretty fun and high energy, which is what you want from this sort of thing. Some songs like "Best Revenge' work of their sheer lyrical charm. "Shut Up" really winks in the direction of the Get-up Kids. I'll give this album a 9, and see how it grows on me, but it's a lot of light-hearted fun for the broken-hearted. Out on Rise Records. 

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Spiritbox : "Tsunami Sea"

I really liked their 2021 album "Eternal Blue". It scored a 9.5, so that is a lot to measure up against, but the singles leading up to this highly anticipated album were pretty good. We hear many of the same elements employed on the opening track. While they are operating within the bounds of the post-djent metal core, there are enough interesting elements, like the more robotic vocal effect used on the verses of "Black Rainbow". However, I think it's the band's pop lean that helps separate them from their peers, as Courtney is better at vocal hooks than the singer for Jinger or Infected Rain, who work in similar sonic circles.  This is where a song like "Perfect Soul" finds them shining. You also hear the strength of their hooks on "Keep Sweet"  which is even poppier perhaps. 

Unlike most pop acts, there are no additional songwriters, much less a team of one. The most pop moment on the album comes much later on "Crystal Roses", though there are more rock dynamics in play. She toys with auto-tune as an effect rather than relying on it. The title track leans into melody almost to the point of being a prog power ballad. But it's still heavier than the new Dream Theater. Their drummer really fills the spaces with interesting playing that they build off of. "A Haven With Two Faces" finds the harsher vocals return after they have lured you into a false sense of security, as this song spills over from the more serene vibes of the previous one. 

"No Loss No Love" breaks from any notion of formulas this album has conceived and is where the album takes a more experimental slant and more electronic elements begin to creep in. "Ride the Wave" finds this taking them back in a pop direction, but to the band's credit, like their pop tendencies or not, they do not have a team of songwriters and producers coming up with their hooks for them, it's all Spiritbox. I am pretty picky when it comes to pop, so to my ears this is well done. With 'Ride the Wave," it does climax in a heavy explosion. It ends with "Deep End" which also touches on a more melancholic pop that shifts into anthemic rock. Since this album has more hard work invested in its writing than their previous album I am going to give it a 10 and see how it grows on me. I think they have found their place in the landscape of the music biz here, and we will see them get bigger than they already are. 

 

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Black Metal History Month Kvelertak : "Splid"

These guys are being featured for Black Metal History Month as they have a blackened history. This is even more distant history as things have gotten weird on the 3rd album from these  Norwegian punks. It is less metal this time around, so much so my first  thought was .. this sounds like the Refused. This is their first album with new vocalist Ivar Nickolaisen .  The guitar harmonies are really clean in the vein of  Thin Lizzy. None of these elements are out of left field they are just dialed in with less aggression. There is a more rock n roll sound to the strummed guitar on "Crack of Doom" . This song is s sung in English and features Troy Sanders . This song also high lights where Ivar's vocals are different than his predecessors. They seem higher and more of a punk sneer than the more hostile and throaty growl of the past.

By the third song "Necrosoft" I have reigned myself to the fact this is not necessarily the same band. This allows me to just listen on a song by song basis to how this effort stacks up. Sonically there is more going on but with less density and intensity.  "Discord" is a more punk paced rocker. "Bratebrann" does the rock n roll thing better with a sharper edge to the guitar tone. All of the guitars sound great on this album and are masterfully executed. The multi tracked chorus  reminds me of Styx more than Queen which is what I think they were going for. Midway into the song they have already covered a great deal of ground, so their song writing has stepped up dynamically. In this way they have a made a logical progression from the first album which threw itself at you in a drunken howl. This album feels like it's being played by people who are stoned , not drunk.

From this point they begin to lean in more of  brisk jangling garage rock flavored style of punk. More polished than raw or rough edged. Not the first punk band to be influenced by Thin Lizzy. We begin to get variation of this theme with the dials turned more to rock . Not to say it is devoid of all metal moments just not how metal has really be defined since the mid 80s. Thss  is still a fun album and while it might not be a firmly planted in the wheel house of  what today's metal head listens to there are enough moments of thrashing to tempt you into giving this album multiple spins. The more new wave side of the 80s haunted the guitar tone of " Tevling" . I love this , but I can hear where their more metal minded fans might not embrace this despite the more explosive chorus. There are without a doubt more atmospheric layers going on with this album, yet it has a party vibe to it. I am not disappointed. There are some post -punk moments like "Delirium Tremens" which drives the point hom that I am the right demographic for these changes.   hough even this song builds into some of the album's more metal moments. There are few touches of black metal on the last song, but it pretty much aligns with what you expect from this band . I will give this one a 9 and see how it sits with me . comes out on Rise Records Feb 14th .

Hot Water Music : "Light It Up"

This Florida band has returned, one of the staples of the post-hardcore scene that once got referred to as emo when it was about emotion rather than hair cuts. Their new album find the band back with a stronger sense of melody and song writing than I remember them leaving off with. Their singer's husky voice reaches further than before. They are not as aggressive but it is a fair trade off in terms of maturation. It's when they really speed things up into a punk place on the title track that they lose me. "Show Your Face" returns to the more melodic sense of emotion injected into a brand of punk that leans more into the rock side of the equation. This means a strong chorus that is more likely to get stuck in your head. "Never Going Back" feels more like a punk version of Bruce Springsteen. With that said it also equates with finely tuned songwriting and thoughtful lyrics.

The rambling almost Americana take on punk rolls on with it's very organic lyrical sensibility. Here it begins to retread some of the ground it feels like they have already covered and finds this formula beginning to wear thin on me as they no longer have the darker sense of desperation that used to ride the underbelly of their sound back in the day. They come closer to touching on this with "Sympathizer" , but turn around and lose me again with the more Ramones like punk of "Vultures". While they don't suck at this kind of punk, I don't think it's truest to who they are as a band. "Bury Your Idols" finds them splitting the difference and bringing a more familiar melodic side to the punk energy. It's not until "Overload" that I begin to hear a New Model Army influence that must have been their all these years but I never gave any thought to until now.

The Bruce Springsteen thing returns to a greater extent on "High Class Catastrophe" . But this is fine with me as is it is one of the album's more passionately sung songs."Hold Out" is melodic punk filler, the chorus is strong but kind breezes past without really sticking to me. With these guys it's all about the feeling from the vocal and they sell me more on that during this album's more rock n roll moments like the closing anthem "Take You Away" which is what the Boss would sound like if he went up to 11. Speaking of numbers I'll give this album an 8, mainly due to the fact some of the more brisk punk numbers just don't make me a believer. Fans of the band might be more forgiving, I used to like this guys but haven't listened to them in 18 years.

Eighteen Visions : "XVIII"

Checking this album out as there is a bunch of hype about it since they apparently haven't released one in some time. I know they hail from the Myspace era so I many of their fans grew up to listen to real metal. The first song pretty standard hardcore with bigger production and a more metallic guitar sound, not bad but not the second coming either. By the second song I know they will not be able to restrain themselves from going into their more cock rock side that I remember. The screaming is decent and the first verse makes you think they are still pretty serious about being heavy.Then it happens on the chorus and the begin using the same hair spray that Avenged Sevenfold uses. However they are still more firmly planted in hard core than Avenged Sevenfold since their first album.They lead into "Underneath my Gun" with a sample from Ghostbusters. The clean vocals to waste as much time showing their true colors. Very similar in it's intention as the second song though the song writing is not as on point.

They bring clean guitar tones to the table for a second going into "Live Again" and the double bass work is decent. The song has more dynamic flow and I like the fact it's darker. I guess if I had to listen to metal core this would be the way to do it. I am always willing to sacrifice overt heaviness for better song writing. "Laid to Waste In the Shit of Man" will surely get a good pit going. even with the cock rock vocals that slide in. "the Oath" is very precise in it's hammering and proves they are good at what they do I just don't know if I have grown out of what they do. "Spit" has a pretty decent chorus, and I think I like the lyrics even though they are written with a tone of over blown teen angst. There is a very Guns n Roses like melodic break down that almost makes these guys seem like an angry Steel Panther.  "Picture Perfect" doesn't do anything new and makes it clear the formula is place.

"Fake Leather Jacket" uses a sample from "Wild at Heart" and has a big hair metal chorus. It's well done , but almost sounds too much like Avenged Sevenfold. I don't think Avenged Sevenfold even sounds that much like themselves anymore.There seems to be a lot of feeling in " For This I Sacrifice". For what it is it's a good song it really depends on how high your threshold for what this is might be . I think this is the face of modern metal for the mainstream kids in the suburbs who seem reluctant to change, it's heavy enough without presenting any real danger. At the end of the day it's well done and pretty well written for the most part ,my only problem with the album is it's likeness to Avenged Sevenfold ,so I will give it an 8.5, I am sure their fans are going to be oblivious to the issue I have with it as that's their thing.