The Decline are from Australia and they were already featured on the pages of this webzine, This is their brand new album I am listening, courtesy of Pee Records. In fact this is the new full length album, but it is kind of compilation. Why? Because this beauty features 17 songs and on it you can find all the singles recorded during the pandemic and lockdown, It also contains fan favorites from seven inch singles, and also material from splits and compilations plus new single excellent ‘Hillsong Of The Damned’. Anyone who listened to The Decline know what can expect, that is awesome melodic punk done in old school nineties style without much philosophy but with superb conviction, excellent melodies and harmonies, fast skate punk rock but also mid tempo gentle punk rock anthems. Vocals are story for themselves. They are sooo sweet and so perfect that I am jealous of this band that I never had a band in which I could sing so beautiful. Backing vocal harmonies are also superb plus guitar hooks, catchy riffs, harsh where they need to be, melodic where they need to be, meaning all the time. My personal favorites are ‘Kenneth’, ‘Hillsong Of The Damned’, ‘Year Of The Crow’, ‘Fast Food’ and ‘The Werewolf Of Fever Swamp’ sounding awesome like Teenage Bottlerocket. Fast songs with lots of irony and humor cleverly mix with more emotional punk rock anthems. This band reminds me a lot of one of my favorite bands being No Use For A Name with song structures and way they play their music, there is a NUFAN cover on this record too! So, if you are into great melodic punk rock check out this band and have fun like I did!
Agastopia are hailing from Bulgaria and this is their new release containing nine songs. The music on this album is varied and if I must describe it would be melodic hardcore punk with some groove parts and almost alternative indie rock parts but enough harsh to keep your hardcore heart beating for listening the music of Agastopia. Like grunge influences meet hardcore punk and skate punk. Lyrics are personal and deal with death, facing your inner demons. aggression, being empty inside, depression, jealousy, suicide and other themes from very personal angle of being. There are couple of faster more straightforward punk songs like excellent ‘Dead’. Vocals vary from angry shouting to more melodic clean singing and fit just perfectly to the songs along with backing vocals. My personal favorites are ‘Dead’, ‘Terrified’ and ‘Just Do It’. This is not your straightforward hardcore record but it is a great music if you open your mind and ears to a bit different music style and quite original if I can admit.
Dead Pollys are no strangers to this webzine and they recently released new record with Too Loud Records. There are 12 songs on this release and the music is energetic, melodic punk rock, mainly fast and with rough edged vocals not typical for this kind of music, thus making this record a bit more original than other bands. But, I can also hear more harsher sound and harder songs, due to line-up change, with band having new drummer and new guitarist in their ranks. Besides melodic punk, I can hear lots of garage punk influence, even 77 style punk rock here and there, maybe it is only me hearing that in their songs. Lyrically the band explores future apocalyptic world where people rather give up than fight and pretty bleak landscapes are described in lyrics but also enabling us to open our eyes and try to fight for our future. I can only imagine how these songs sound nice and harsh live while listening to epic guitar melodies of ’94’ and ‘Two Weeks To Live’, couple of my personal favorites on this record, maybe because these songs could go into more melodic department of things, also ‘Yes, Sir’ is one of the highlights on this record, not accidentally chosen as a single prior to releasing this one. So, if you like your punk rock harsh yet melodic and garage at times, go listen to this one.
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