Heart & Lung
Twistin' The Knife Away
Red Scare Industries (2021)
Heart & Lung released their debut in 2017, then Red Scare reissued it last year, putting it on my radar. The band is from Cleveland, OH, playing melodic pop-punk with gruff moments. While the debut was fairly call-and-response in song structure, Twistin’ The Knife Away mixes up the songwriting quite a bit throughout its 11 songs. And, as that title suggests, it’s sometimes lyrically brutal: exposing ugly truths. A few things strike me about this record. First, it’s the songwriting maturity. Call-and-response is cool, but it gets old over a full-length record. There’s more variety here, recalling the Descendents and fellow Midwestern punks The Copyrights’ melodic focus instead of that back-and-forth action. There are still vocal tradeoffs, but they’re built around the melody. That noted, it’s still aggressive and pointed. It’s angrier, even when the band has you singing along like it’s bubblegum. And while it’s pop in structure, it’s not limited to three chords. I hear more guitar flourish, akin to contemporary bands like Iron Chic and PUP that give more depth without drowning the message -- but it’s subtle, meeting in the middle between styles. Twistin’ The Knife Away is extremely balanced, which is kind of ironic since … Read more
The Right Here
Northern Town
Rum Bar Records (2021)
Northern Town is a fitting title for this album. It feels like winter: cold, lonely, and daunting. It’s the third … Read more
Joy Division
Juvenes
Hachette Publishing (2021)
Chances are that if you dig underground music, you will harbour an appreciation for Joy Division and New Order. If … Read more
The Muslims
Fuck These Fucking Fascists
Epitaph (2021)
Fuck These Fucking Fascists is the fourth full-length by the Muslims, and their first on Epitaph. As the name suggests, … Read more
