Dirtnap US レコード& CD

Review: Before the release of their highly anticipated new full-length, 'Please Don't Take Me Back'; set to drop this October, Durham City's favourite emo/pop-punk outfit, Martha, offer a taster of what's to come with this 7" single, featuring the upcoming LP's opening cut, 'Beat, Perpetual'. While a sonically light-hearted yet earnest ode to the road and world of touring, the lyrics weigh up the isolated nature of the past two years that completely changed the core members working dynamic and livelihoods, while the b-side boasts a rapturous cover of 'Dreaming Out Loud', by Wisconsin indie group Tenement. A short sweet single to wet beaks and fan anticipation before the real deal arrives come autumn.

Review: Durham in the UK's very own incarnation of Wheatus - aka Martha - may come across as your typical teenage dirtbags - if the sound of track three "Into This" from this new album is anything to go by - however the four-piece have come a long way since debuting on Fortuna POP! in 2014. This latest missive comes courtesy of Big Scary Monsters out of Oxford, and there's no denying the evolution and self-awareness the band have garnered when it comes to embracing their unique style of DIY pop-punk. There's touches of nostalgic Klaxons in tracks like "Mini Was A Preteen Arsonist" to more emo sounding passages that come out in " Brutalism By The River (Arrhythmia)" - think: Does It Offend You, Yeah?. Alongside classic tell-tale signs of Blink-182 influences in "Lucy Shone A Light On You" too, the band may not be filling stadiums just yet, but their music is enough to make you reminisce and wonder: what ever happened to Vans Warped Tour anyway?

Review: Durham in the UK's very own incarnation of Wheatus - aka Martha - may come across as your typical teenage dirtbags - if the sound of track three "Into This" from this new album is anything to go by - however the four-piece have come a long way since debuting on Fortuna POP! in 2014. This latest missive comes courtesy of Big Scary Monsters out of Oxford, and there's no denying the evolution and self-awareness the band have garnered when it comes to embracing their unique style of DIY pop-punk. There's touches of nostalgic Klaxons in tracks like "Mini Was A Preteen Arsonist" to more emo sounding passages that come out in " Brutalism By The River (Arrhythmia)" - think: Does It Offend You, Yeah?. Alongside classic tell-tale signs of Blink-182 influences in "Lucy Shone A Light On You" too, the band may not be filling stadiums just yet, but their music is enough to make you reminisce and wonder: what ever happened to Vans Warped Tour anyway?

Review: Birthed from a chance encounter between Irish-born Count Vaseline/The Mighty Stef songwriter Stef Murphy and Stiff Little Fingers guitar tech Jamie Mechan in Nashville, Tennessee; the pair would quickly strike up a creative partnership that would ultimately culminate in The Sleeveens (Irish for "trickster"). Enlisting Ryan Sweeney (Cheap Time) and Eli Steele (Sweet Knives) to round out the line-up, the newfound old school punk outfit are set to kick off 2024 in the most retrospective manner possible with 11 cuts breathing with the classic style popularised by labels such as Chiswick, New Rose and Stiff Records almost a half-century ago. Energetic, angst-riddled, fuzzed-out mayhem emboldened by earworm hooks and intelligent, witty and immensely endearing penmanship.

Review: Having delivered the quintessential powerpop/punk album in 2012's "Television Youth", Montreal's Sonic Avenues take it to another level on their third LP "Mistakes". Building on their signature melodic style, the Aves return with an evolved and considerably more varied effort that resulted from dropping all preconceived notions of how a "punk" record should sound. The band made a concerted effort to not repeat itself, and it shows. While no doubt teeming with energy and hooks, Mistakes eases off the light-speed tempos of previous releases and shows greater sophistication in both songwriting and production. Self-produced by the band in singer Max's apartment, Mistakes was written over a period of 7 months and produced in less than three. Mixing together songs dark, bright, short, and long, this release really finds the band coming into its own and claiming a distinct niche within the contemporary pop/punk pantheon. Fans of previous Sonic Avenues efforts will discover treats both familiar ("Waiting For A Change") and completely unexpected ("Better Days To Come") on this album - by far the band's best to date.