I’ve always been drawn to punk that is dirty, grimy, and disgusting. It’s music at its basest and primal. It is a guttural groan that many keep locked inside, denying its existence. Through this music, we are able to unseat this deep-seated urge and vicariously live through the performer.
The vocals don’t need to be pitch perfect or sound pretty or beautiful. Doing this makes music sterile and non-expressive. In the groans and scratchy vocals, there is a primal response to the overdriven, distorted power chords and lilting leads. You begin to wonder where this music has been hiding for most of your life. And in those minute-and-a-half smatterings of grime, you’re able to forget everything around you.
So–here are some bands that are captivating in all of their layers of dirt:
Canadian Rifle
Jake Levy, the singer of Candian Rifle barks his vocals at you. It’s as if all of his energy is pent up and unleashed in this groan, accentuated into vocals. Since the early 2000’s, with Ambition Misson, Levy has been able to create extremely catchy music behind his coarse vocals that make me want to scratch my own throat.
With the latest release, Peaceful Death, we see Canadian Rifle and Levy in particular with his songwriting in peak form. Songs don’t feel overlong. The tone is pretty simple in the best way, just a slightly distorted guitar with a large amp. The drums rollick back and forth, intermingling with the bass and guitar in intriguing ways.
Most of all, there are melodies and hooks for days and days. “Shining Night” is the most disgusting sounding breakup song, but you cannot deny the weight of the chorus. Or even, “Whatever Helps You Sleep at Night,” which in 75 seconds describes a person discovering their significant other cheating on them. Even when Candian Rifle describes the common trope of love, it is not told in the most straightforward way.
Distants
You can find much of my words about Distants in my review of their latest EP, ii, a couple of months ago for Midwest Action, which you are reading right now! If you are a fan of melodic punk, I guarantee this band will scratch the itch you are searching for. Alex Angus’s vocals draw you in with his patented scream-singing. The guitar leads keep you invested and drive each and every song forward. It does away with a traditional verse-chorus structure, which makes you want to repeat songs over and over again.
I try not to be hyperbolic, but Distants is the summation of everything I want from a punk band. Take 20 minutes of your day, go for a walk, and listen to both of their EPs. I guarantee you will find it worthwhile.
Grool Brothers
Bummer pop punk with great choruses and riffs to imprint in your brain. It does what all good pop punk does, imparting certain sense memories through just a little moment, whether it is the chorus sing-along or a couple lines in a verse. Take for example “Memorial Day Weekend,” my personal favorite:
You say we’re lucky to be living
Yeah you say it all the time
But are we really living?
Or are we merely just alive?
In a span of twenty five words, this feeling of boredom and wasting away our days is expressed before we quickly move on to the next part of the verse. It’s in these little moments that Grool Brothers thrives. It’s in “Sharp Horns,” when the tempo ramps up leading to a genuinely thrilling end of a song. The examples are endless to be honest.