Tag Archives: stream

THE PLANET SMASHERS – On The Dancefloor

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It seems inconceivable that ‘On The Dancefloor’ is The Planet Smashers’ tenth album, much in the same way that it seems inconceivable that it comes twenty years after fan favourite ‘Unstoppable’, and three decades after the death of Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell. Time is a funny thing.

They might not have had the commercial success as Real Big Fish or Less Than Jake (at least in the UK, where hard touring has made those bands a big draw since the late 90s), but years of grafting have made The Planet Smashers an integral part of the transatlantic ska world. There have been times when it’s been hard to work out why. Despite being great musicians, they’ve not always shown signs of being particularly great songwriters, with so much of their earlier work being reliant on one line hooks, delivered ad nauseum to the point of absolute annoyance.

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THE CAROLYN – Pyramid Scheme Of Grief

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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.

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PERPACITY – Lille Flamme EP

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Taking a side-step from the relatively accessible English language material that filled their 2023 album ‘Discordia’, ‘Lille Flamme’ showcases Perpacity’s multi-national heritage by presenting songs in Danish. The release also feels markedly different in its choice to share a couple of spikier arrangements, which sometimes gives the English-Danish duo’s work a darker and more intense quality. These factors mean the material is possibly geared a little more towards those who are already familiar with Perpacity, but you certainly couldn’t accuse them of merely repeating themselves and adopting a safe and formulaic approach to their art.

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LUNISON – Fakepink

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Lunison’s debut EP ‘See Me As A Friend’ – released in 2024 – presented five tracks where a rock sound was twisted into some very interesting shapes. Its key cuts showed how varied the band could be: ‘Name 3 Songs’ managed to open with a riff that mixed garage rock and an almost post-grunge dirtiness, only to turn that on its head with a huge, melodic chorus full of ringing guitars sounding like a throwback to a great Gin Blossoms tune; ‘Smile, Cruel World’ borrowed from a couple of The Black Keys’ more groove-centric numbers, but added a more melodic vocal, again, calling back to a world of 90s pop-rock sounds, and ‘Velcro’ introduced a reverbed, 50s guitar twang in places, which set against a pumping bass and harmony vocals ended up sounding like a funky take on something from Arctic Monkeys ‘AM’.

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R.M.F.C. – Ecstatic Strife / Golden Trick

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Following a handful of singles and EP’s, Australia’s R.M.F.C. finally released a full length album at the end of 2023. Although ‘Club Hits’ didn’t feature as much raw sounding material as ‘Television’ (a highlight from 2018’s ‘Hive’), its collection of short and sharp workouts made for great listening.

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