Watch: Eastbourne punks CHUB crank the speed on ‘California Reaper’

Eastbourne has often been labelled an old peoples’ town. Comedian Lee Evans once joked that the shops all had bifocal windows. It’s true that it lacks the vibrancy of the nearby city of Brighton, but Eastbourne is far from being somewhere that people go exclusively to live out their final years. Party punks CHUB aren’t just set on putting the town on the musical map; they’re also seemingly making a play for becoming one of the noisiest things to ever emerge from that south coast seaside resort.

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BAD MARY – Better(er) Days EP

A lot can change in ten years. Unlike most DIY punk/alternative bands, though, for Bad Mary, issues with an ever shifting line up hasn’t ever been a factor. Since day one, the unity between vocalist Amanda Mac, her drumming dad Bill, bass playing husband Mike and guitarist David has been unquestionably strong. What has changed in that time, however, is the band’s recording budget and their collective musical skills. The 2024 Bad Mary sound much bigger and much fiercer than their younger selves. With that in mind, they chose not to mark a decades’ worth of work with a career spanning compilation, but to re-record some of the best tunes from their ‘Better Days’ debut disc.

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HIKE THE PEAK – Ether EP

Hike The Peak is a punk project helmed by Sheffield based musician Lee Byatt. In his own words, the band was launched “as a result of a mental health crisis during lockdown”, with Lee, wisely, realising he could use his musical talent and a revolving crew of friends to deliver a positive message. Following on from a selection of digital tracks – subsequently compiled as the ‘Only The True Fly Free’ album – this release couples another two absolute bangers in the skate punk mould, sharing a sound that’s guaranteed to take some listeners straight back to the late 90s.

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BRACKISH – Rear View EP

Since their formation in 2015, emo punk band Brackish have always drawn from a nostalgic sound. On the self titled album from 2022, the pop punk influence of Get Up Kids can be found jostling alongside even more emo-centric elements, creating something that’s both punchy and melodic. Despite some of the vocals being a little more off-kilter than might be considered ideal, the record supplied thirty one minutes of top drawer riffs, throwing the listener into a musical landscape that showed how, sometimes, it’s better to take an established sound and recycle it well than try to create something completely new.

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