Wednesday 7 October 2015

Album Review: Apologies/Apathy by Dynamite Dynamite




Apologies/Apathy is the title of the debut album from Scunthorpe punk rockers Dynamite Dynamite. The melodic punk four piece released an excellent EP named It's Only Breathing last year on 13 Stitches Records so I was extremely excited to hear a full length from the band.

Something I really enjoyed from Only Breathing were the dual vocals that were used throughout the EP. One was a more pop punk style and the other more of a gruff punk sound. Two styles that should clash but Dynamite Dynamite do a fantastic job of blending them together. The first song on this album, I'm Going To Allow This, starts out with a simple, repetitive guitar chord that gradually builds into a full band burst of fun melodic punk before some vocals begin. On this occasion it is the gruffer vocals taking the lead with the poppy vocals adding some excellent harmonies. This is a great fist-in-the-air sing-along punk song and a fantastic start to the album. Die For This has a more aggressive sound despite the poppy vocals taking the lead. The chorus on the song is very simple with a basic "Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-Way-Oh, Never Knew Somebody Could Die For This"; words that will be stuck in your head for days. It is very apparent that Dynamite Dynamite are hugely influenced by Oklahoma's Red City Radio; on the third track Nobody Likes A Moaner they go as far as slightly modifying a RCR lyric when they sing "I've Seen My Darkness In The Light" in a tune that is extremely similar to the lyric from the RCR song Two For Flinching "I've Chased The Darkness In My Life”. As a massive Red City Radio fan I loved this and love when bands wear their influences on their sleeves like Dynamite Dynamite have here. Track number four Shazbot has a fantastic guitar solo for the intro before, for the first time on the album, the dual vocals properly work together rather than just being harmonies for one another. This song is about missing someone who has been gone for far too long and wondering if you'll ever see them again. We're All In The Gutter has more of a pop punk feel than anything else so far on the album. The song starts with some melodic vocals accompanied by some stabby guitar playing. It’s about realising things are going downhill and finding a way to stop things from getting worse. 
 
Common Monsters is another catchy pop punk song. This and We're All In The Gutter would fit perfectly onto any summer punk rock barbeque playlist perfectly. There has been a lot of pop punk finding its way into the mainstream this past couple of years. Dynamite Dynamite blow all of these bands out of the water. Track number seven is named Porphyria, which, after a little research, I discovered is a rare brain disease. Now knowing what it means it makes the song feel very personal as the gruff singer talks about a girl who suffers from the disease and about a chap who only wants to be with the girl. This is some strong and emotional song writing. As is the next song - Postcard. The tempo of this track is slower than the previous songs, really focusing on the passionate vocal delivery. The musicianship throughout Postcard is fantastic, really taking the listener on a ride with a series of excellent builds into some big, shouty sing-along choruses. Good To Know had me tapping my legs as if they were drums from the very first listen, I imagine it's a very good toe tapper. The dual vocals work excellently with each other again in the song, with the cleaner singer providing some great harmonies. The chorus of "It's Good To Know, It's Good To Know" is one that will be stuck in your head for days. Apologies/Apathy finishes with a song titled This Deal'sGetting Worse. The start of this track is explosive with some massive gruff vocals quickly joined by the pop ones. This really is something that makes Dynamite Dynamite really stand out above the rest of the pack. 

I always think the sign of a good album is an ability to make the listener be able to imagine seeing the songs live, for me this was the case for every song on Apologies/Apathy. For a debut album this is just fantastic and shows a huge amount of promise from Dynamite Dynamite, with a lot of hard work and some luck these chaps are going to go very far.

Stream and buy Apologies/Apathy here: https://dynamitedynamite.bandcamp.com/album/apologies-apathy

Like Dynamite Dynamite here: https://www.facebook.com/dynamitedynamite

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