On their 2023 EP, Taxi Girls packed a whole world of distorted and punky riffs into a little over eleven minutes. Sometimes sounding like a Frankenstein creation made from the best elements of Bully, The Soviettes and Shampoo, the material valued abrasiveness over finesse, but every one of those EP tracks served up a fantastic sound from the crossroads of indie and garage punk.
Tag Archives: punk
THE CAROLYN – Pyramid Scheme Of Grief
In 2023, US punks The Carolyn released ‘Harmful History’, an EP that provided a solid, if brief, insight into the band’s musical interests. The material made their love of The Ataris and The Gaslight Anthem rather apparent, but in terms of musicianship, the material was very strong.
In many ways, their 2025 release ‘Pyramid Scheme of Grief’ offers fans more of the same, but at times, the arrangements are tighter and the material more concise. This gives The Carolyn a serious amount of extra punch when required, without losing any of their songwriting focus.
THE CANDY SNATCHERS – Good Riddance / Round Up
On their self titled record from 1996, The Candy Snatchers ripped their way through sixteen high octane tracks in a little over half an hour, setting a brilliant punky blueprint that would suit the band going forward. With tunes like ‘Yeah You’ and ‘Haunted Road’ playing like an unholy hybrid of the Misfits and Electric Frankenstein, and ‘Sauced Again’ tapping into some even more razor sharp rock ‘n’ roll, the band immediately set themselves in place as a force to be reckoned with.
FIRE SALE / PULLEY – Split Personality EP
On a pair of earlier singles, US punkers Fire Sale demonstrated a perfect blend of power and melody. By channelling the skate punk aspects of early No Use For A Name and the melodic elements of The Ataris, their material shared an instantly classic sound which seemed tailor made for lovers of 90s punk. Their contributions to this split EP with the mighty Pulley – one of the 90s more underrated melodic punk acts – are very much in the same vein, but this only suggests that Fire Sale are the kind of band that genre fans can take to heart without fear of disappointment.
Watch: Melodic punks The Carolyn share video for ‘White Russians and The Infinite Void’ ahead of EP release
Atlanta’s The Carolyn are one of the great “under the radar” punk bands. Billing themselves as a melodic punk band who “make music for overthinkers”, their classic sound – drawing heavily from the classic influence of Face To Face and Strike Anywhere – relies as much on rousing hooks and huge, accessible melodies as punky riffs.