Chicago has always been a fertile ground for pop punk and melodic punk/skate punk and Counterpunch just released their new full length album and it is an instant classic! This one contains twelve songs and it is a lesson in melodic skate punk. After instrumental intro, Avarice leads us in with anthemic chorus, great melody and uplifting vibe. Fascinating how vocals vary from nice harmonies to scream more in a hardcore way. One of my personal favorites is Calling All Scars, being fast straightforward short but sweet song. One of the highlights that I must mention also is Waiting In The Wings, for me the best song on this record. Who likes their punk rock more slower and gentler will find their love in Judgement Day, being such beautiful song. But, in order for you to discover this record and previous records by this awesome band, go listen and check it out. Find your favorite. I recommend this one.
Chicago s favorite sons are back with new record! Naked Raygun are punk rock veterans and I am glad to still see them go and sounding strong after all these years and still causing a whirlwind, real storm of emotions with their melodic old school pop punk rock. This new bunch of songs has something for everyone, from sweet chorus of Treat Me Unkind that I love so much, to almost psyched ending of Soul Hole Baby, across haunting, atmospheric noisy and garage rock Suicide Bomb, pure unaldurated punk fun of Broken Things, this album is very versatile using punk rock as it was meant to be, as a means of creativity in song writing and making a whole new world of sound for us listeners to enjoy. I can almost smell the sweaty, smoke filled garage and club full of punks listening to this band and let Naked Raygun take you to otherworldly experience of rock. Nice album.
Distributed by Revolver USA & Cargo UK Co-released with Tough Love Records (London)
“Party Store” is about repetition – generation to generation and within a life. It’s also about the almost altar-like character of some corner store counters: the kid photos and signed dollar bills and lucky charms and out-dated notices and ancient advertisements and winning tickets. Around here, I call corner stores corner stores, but that sounded like a terrible name for a song. I’m from the East Coast where we called corner stores “bodegas”, which is also a terrible name for a song. So we went with the Midwestern American version, “party store”, and figured we could get away with it as Aaron is from Indiana. – Karina Gill, 2021
>> Cindy’s third LP arrives in quick succession, the quietly devastating 1:2. Jesse Jackson on bass, Simon Phillips on drums and Aaron Diko on keyboards weave the perfectly thin web behind Gill’s slow Velvety strums and murmured melodies. The rhythm section brings the crude flow, while the keys add subtle and surreal counterpoint to the withering world Gill depicts in her lyrics. “Songs tie together seemingly disparate things by the logic of mood,” Gill tries to explain. This isn’t dream-pop sunshine bliss; half-closed black drapes hang on the window where the narrator stares into the middle distance. “Sometimes you say you’re feeling small/You plan all day for your own funeral”, she intones in Party Store. Gill has a way of halting her phrasing that makes it feel like her thoughts are gently tumbling into the abyss. It’s this unsettling quality mixed with the hazy atmosphere that makes Cindy’s new LP 100% addicting and the perfect antidote to comfort listening. – Glenn Donaldson, 2021
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