Last Saturday week marked a good night in Liverpool. Why? Because Perennial were back in town to promote their excellent new long-player, Modernism. The Outpost playing host to, indeed, “the Perennial sound”.
But not before new kids on the block, Quattro, brought their unvarnished strain of pop-punk to the small crowd. In doing so, the three-piece almost blew the entry door of its hinges.
Of course, no DIY punk gig on Merseyside is complete without Good Grief, who played the hits as well road tested some new ones from their anticipated new record. (Keep your eyes peeled for that next year, people.)
As Good Grief leader, Will Fitzpatrick, proclaimed that Perennial were the best band in the world, on the night, you could really have believed it. The three-piece, led by constants Chelsey Hahn (vocals, electric organ, tambourine) and Chad Jewett (vocals, guitar) slammed out the live show of the year.
With a blistering set underpinned by songs from the no-nonsense Modernism, the night was a stark reminder of why one falls in love with music in the first place. Perennial’s infectious cut-and-thrust brand of art-punk, bristling with the kind of urgency as good as anything from the vaults this year. In terms of punk, well, last weekend felt like it was as good as it has been in this decade.
Which got me thinking of punk more recently. Given the current political landscape, it should be thriving, but maybe not for the reasons you’d immediately think. Its DIY spirit and strong ties with community, transcending all else. The same day that Liverpool’s Defend Vinyl celebrated its tenth birthday, Perennial also illuminating the importance of this.
Similar to the metal column authored in 2024, digging through new releases, and there’s been too much punk out there to wait until our next Albums Quarterly schedule for the end of November. And coupled with the fact we’ve reduced our weekly schedule from, give or take, four to three articles a week, moments like this are a reminder to readers that we’re doing our best not to let things fall by the wayside; despite our best efforts, we just don’t have enough time to get across everything. (In truth, who does?)
So with that, here are, what we consider anyway, several new punk releases we’ve plucked from the fringes. There’s always a question of what is punk? Granted, while it’s considered many different things in many different ways, for me personally, it’s the DIY and polemic spirit that underlines what punk is. It’s not a sound. It’s an ethos and a way of life. That’s what the artists in this feature encompass. So enjoy, and who knows? Perhaps this feature will evolve into something more in time? For now, though…
Imperial Teen Interview: “It’s always interesting to hear what people take away from the songs”
Anytime Cowboy: Gone By Now
Self-released
Don’t mistake Reuben Sawyer pricing his work for $1 or more on Bandcamp as some sort of loss leader. Call it heroic or downright sad that more people aren’t on the Anytime Cowboy train, but whichever way you slice it, now there are no excuses.
Gone By Now is Anytime Cowboy’s second full-length this year. His first being Slab Song, which runs seamlessly into Gone By Now. Imagine if Total Control ever left Melbourne to baton down the hatches somewhere in rural Victoria for six months. These songs, an acidic, skeletal form of cow punk that teleports you to good places.
People will be quick to point out some Parquet Courts treatment here, and, okay, it tracks. But Anytime Cowboy is a bit more for the campfire and outhouse instead some Pitchfork Christmas do. I know which one I’d prefer.
Listen / Purchase from Bandcamp
Downtown Boys: Public Luxury
Sub Pop Records
Notwithstanding their new alliance with Sunn O))), Sub Pop have had their best year in decades. On the back guiding the drone overlords in under their roof, it’s bands like Downtown Boys that have helped secure the fortress for this happen.
In the world of punk, Downtown Boys are a safe pair of hands, and on Public Luxury, that doesn’t change. It’s more gnarly stuff from the New York-based five-piece. A song like The City Begins, the best track they’ve written, while Yellow Sun is one of their most beautiful.
And on the whole, you could describe Public Luxury as that. Downtown Boys have always been right-on politically, and for bands of this ilk, they will only get better during a time that needs them now more than ever.
Listen / Purchase from Bandcamp
Gimic: New Tradition
Drunken Sailor Records
After a not-so-gentle nudge by the aforementioned Mr Fitzpatrick, my world was opened up to Bristol’s Gimic. Their debut LP, New Tradition, like a gale force of punk and post-hardcore, and the results are excellent.
Another Phil Booth-handled affair at JT Soar in Nottingham, New Tradition is fast. Think Minor Threat getting friendly with …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead during their Madonna sessions, and you may land on the fringes of this metallic racket.
New Tradition is feverish and raw. It sinks further into the mind the more you listen to it, and given it’s over in a flash, play it on a loop for the best results. So with that, go forth, dear people.
Listen / Purchase from Bandcamp
Protomartyr: Hotel Usona
Domino Recording Co.
It’s only fitting that this ad-hoc feature coincides with new music from the most vital punk band of these times.
On their seventh full-length release, Hotel Usona, Protomartyr return with something that takes post-punk to the places where it needs to go. Because let’s be honest, the amount of sound-alikes out there has reduced the sub-genre to a painted-by-numbers scenario. Not the Detroit sentinels, who, led by Joe Casey, use a hotel as a composite for the existential horrors of their home country.
And added with some middle eastern exotica and Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain vibes, these new inflections embed perfectly into the Protomartyr remit. Hotel Usona may be a slow burn compared to their past works. But make no mistake; they have always been at the vanguard of illuminating life’s darkest realities, and here they reach new depths of the malaise. It’s grim, but essential. Should we be surprised? No.
Listen / Purchase from Bandcamp
Sofftness: Sofft Power
Wrong Speed Records
What happens when members from the likes of No Peeling, Slimb Party, White Finger and Headcut rub shoulders? You get Sofftness! Or not, but yeah, you know what I mean…
The band’s debut album, Sofft Power, is a brand of proto-punk that straddles the orbits from Les Savy Fav and Mission of Burma to even some echoes of Australian underground heroes, Further. These songs, morphing into different shapes from one to the next in what is a rainbow collation of punk.
With Fucked Up’s Jonah Falco behind the soundboards harnessing this wonderful din made by Jess, Holly, Joey and Dom (to hell with surnames!), Sofft Power rests nicely in the corners of the mind. To the point where it will forever remain. Yup, this is that good.
Listen / Purchase from Bandcamp
Swami John Reis: Navajo White
Swami Records
Swami John Reis is a special breed of artist. This decade, the Rocket from the Crypt and Hot Snakes man has parted with albums that simply spark all the senses.
Navajo White is no different, and in time might be one of Reis’ best. 29-minutes of garage punk that swings, and backed by J Sinclair K and Joe Guevara with cameos from Rob Crow, the late Rick Froberg, and more, it’s an experience that everyone who likes their riffs and melodies needs.
With highlights aplenty, perhaps the best arrives in Lies Don’t Lie. The line, “Don’t ask why lies don’t lie”, underlining the whip-smart, pin-sharp lyricism that has made Reis stand out from the rest of the pack in modern day punk and post-hardcode. Navajo White is a further testament to that.
Wishy: Nature’s Pill
Winspear
Following one of 2025’s finest EPs in Planet Popstar, Indianapolis alt-punk unit, Wishy, return for more breezy dities with their second full-length, Nature’s Pill.
I mean, it’s the kind of record that will launch them into wider stratospheres. Wishy’s pop inflections into punk and alt-rock, making this journey a very accessible one.
However, it’s not something that will lose its shine anytime soon. These songs feel like they will stand the test of time. Take Blitz, a bristling, brute of a songs that is hands down one of the best committed to tape this year. And there’s plenty more of that on Nature’s Pill. An album of great scope and variety, it’s bound to enter more and more households each day.
