On The Radar : Happydaze

The UK power-pop-punk revival continues with awesome DIY act Happydaze, a 4-piece from Edinburgh. I know I’ve wrote before about just clicking through links to bands and that’s exactly how I found Happydaze, totally unintentionally hooking me from the first listen.

Having recently released self-directed video for latest single ‘Go Wrong’ with only 2 other releases during late 2020 in the form of angst driven heartbreak ballads ‘What’s It For’ and ’Talk About’ their latest outing takes things up a gear. Pulling out influences from American metal core outfit A Day To Remember alongside anthemic blasts of Mallory Knox and the rock-ready stadium built emo-pop of Twin Atlantic and you’ve found Happydaze distinctive sound.

‘Go Wrong’ starts with a catchy riff (like all great songs) then within the first minute we are ploughing into a hook driven chorus, taking things down a notch through the verse and hurling us back into another chorus made for mosh pits.

We are less than a year into the birth of Happydaze and they are already getting plays on BBC introducing and Radio 1, being compiled into previous South Solar City highlight Yungbluds playlist ‘Misfits 2.0’ and receiving plaudits all round. With a lockdown light at the end of the tunnel Happydaze are sure to be one of the bands to look out for in a local music venue near you!

On The Radar : Hot Milk

 

As a 33 year old man I still have a feint grip on my teenage angst ridden 17 year old self, always looking for that pop-punk emo guitar driven craving, and I feel I may have just accidentally injected it into my eyeballs to get it into my bloodstream that little bit quicker in the form of Hot Milk.

Formed in the north of the UK, currently weighing in as a 4 piece consisting of co-vocals/Guitar Han Mee and Jim Shaw, bassist Tom Paton and on drums Harry Deller.

Hot Milk have a sound comes straight out of the early 00s pop-punk scene think ‘All We Know Is Falling’ Paramore vocals crossed with ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’ My Chemical Romance hooks and a splattering of ‘The Other Side’ by Tonights Alive.

The song that caught my attention ‘Awful Ever After’ is a catchy power-pop-punk banger with dueling vocal, energetic guitar riffs and hard hitting drum patterns. Other tracks include most recent release emo ballad ‘Glass Spiders’ and the extremely catchy ‘Wide Awake’ from EP ‘Are You Feeling Alive?’ (Available via every good streaming service and online shop).

With just over 2 years under their belts as a band, multiple tour slots with acts including Deaf Havana and You Me At Six alongside plaudits from rock royalty Foo Fighters it’s pretty clear to see that post-pandemic life for Hot Milk will see them touring Europe and beyond. Manchester has a new export and they are destined for worldwide success.

On The Radar : Ace Bushy Striptease

It was only a matter of time before those of us that were influenced by the mid noughties uprising of blunt indie pop-punk were going to rear our ugly heads, and tell everyone how it is once again. Ridiculously brilliant titles to songs with lyrical misogyny dabbed in a sherbet of lust, utter brilliance I would say, coming in the form of aptly named Ace Bushy Striptease (not even google will show you the search answer, go on and try it).

A five piece from the center of the country, distracted in university making 1 album per year, and lately highly influenced by football references. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it is really not. Why I've not stumbled upon Ace Bushy Striptease before is beyond me, but I know in my better mind that knowing they exist, I can sleep at night.

If I was going to try and tell you what they sound like, I’d fail, but I can tell you what you can listen to which will make you think ‘Oh..Yeah’...think Art Brut, Jarvis Cocker at the brit awards, the middle class honesty of The Young Knives and Test Icicles, you’re onto a winner.

Radar track ‘More Parts Milijas’ from their 5^th album ‘Outside Its Cold Just Like Inside Of Your Body’ is a clanging, football referencing, brutal but brilliant cataclysm of indie greatness. I really do hope that other than the independent labels they are signed to, someone takes a gamble that will pay off.

Re-Issues : Sum41 - All Killer, No Filler.

Re-issues is a little blog post I’m going to be throwing out every now and again, by re-issues I mean albums that influenced me from as long as I remember. This could literally be anything, to give you an open insight into the shaping of musical influences and taste. 

People say that sharing music is a bad thing, I can’t help but disagree. The first album that was ever shared with me was Sum41’s ‘All Killer, No Filler’ and to this day I can’t thank the person enough for introducing me.

At a ripe teenage age where I wasn’t sure of anything, where girls were something undiscovered and being clean wasn’t a necessity (was it?!) Sum41 brought something reassuring, that there was more to music than boy bands, Whitney Houston and Chas & Dave. Discovering pop-punk would shape the next few musical years in my teenage life.

When you think of Sum41 you instantly think ‘Fat Lip’ or ‘In Too Deep’ and you can’t be blamed but the album goes much deeper, tracks like ‘Summer’ ‘Crazy Amanda Bunkface’ and ‘Motivation’ are the backbone of the bands strongest and still biggest selling album. It became the first album that I could listen to from start to finish and then start again, which eventually lead to a scratched up CD and a replacement of the original instead of the copy.

So there it is, my first re-issue which isn’t too much in depth. 14 tracks lining up at just over 32 minutes, full of teenage angst, a two fingers to society and complete disregard for any rules.