Article by Alan Corcoran.
It’s summer and most of the world has been burning to a crisp in the past few weeks, so what better time to dust off your skateboard, cruise over to your friend’s BBQ and listen to some punk rock, delivered courtesy of Nerdlinger and their new album Happy Place.
The Australian melodic skate punkers have covered a lot of ground both literally and figuratively since 2013 and it’s therefore no surprise that this album has both an energy and diversity to it that is damn refreshing in a genre that’s been going since the 90s.
A fairly standard 30 second intro song starts things off, followed by guitar playing and melodies in both Contagious and Can Yu Forgive Me? that will have fans of Blink-182 reminiscing on a time when Tom Delonge wasn’t off somewhere chasing space men.
The first four songs barrel past in under ten minutes and while there are the spicy riffs and drum fills associated with skate punk, there are also plenty of satisfying melodies that lean towards pop punk. The aforementioned Contagious is a prime example of an intro and verse that sizzle with intensity, before serving up a tasty chorus.
Lead single Underrated is a palette cleansing change of pace in the middle of proceedings, showcasing a matured sense of sound and songwriting. It may not be their first foray into a less frantic style of pop punk, but for my money it’s their best to date.
Fans of the faster stuff need not worry as the next song, Fat Gav, comes hurtling into the party with Jagerbombs for everybody. It’s a fantastic aural stampede of a song, that somehow manages to seamlessly blend in a jaunty bass line, searing guitar solo and a brass section. I don’t know who Fat Gav is, but his song makes me want to start a circle pit.
Besides the slower introduction to Sunny Days, which would probably work well as a drunken late night acoustic singalong, the rest of the album keeps up the energy levels and the mild exploration of new sounds, styles and themes.
German Wings could make it onto an I Can’t Believe it’s Not NOFX compilation (that I would listen to a lot), Song of the Damned has a slightly manic accordion section and Milk is the best non-alcoholic drinking song you’re likely to hear. Whatever your punk rock tastes, you’ll find something you like in Nerdlinger’s Happy Place.
You can pick up your very own Happy Place via Disconnect Disconnect Records in the UK, Thousand Island Records in North America and Pee Records in Nerdlinger’s home continent.
Article by Alan Corcoran.
SHOUT LOUDER 
Leave a Reply