Cold Years
76
Princ e Daddy & The Hyena
Puppy
Health
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Bury Tomorrow Simple Plan Bob Vylan
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Linda Lindas.
The future of punk, right here, right now.
MAY 2022 Issue 76
RIOT 4. BURY TOMORROW 10. PRINCE DADDY & THE HYENA 14. SILVERSTEIN 16. HEALTH 20. THE GREAT ESCAPE 22. COLD YEARS 26. KUBLAI KHAN TX ABOUT TO BREAK 28. WINDWAKER FEATURES 30. THE LINDA LINDAS 38. BOB VYLAN 42. GIRLPOOL 46. PUPPY 50. SIMPLE PLAN 58. SET IT OFF
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alex Bradley, Connor Fenton, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Jack Press, Jessica Goodman, Kelsey McClure, Linsey Teggert, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Adam Taylor, Alexis Gross, Amalia Irons, Brooke Marsh, Cameron Brisbane, Daniel Roland Tierney, Derek Bremner, Frances Beach, Fraser Taylor, James Clare, Kay Dargs, Sarah Louise Bennett, Wyatt Clough, Zen Sekizawa P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.
HELLO. The kids are alright. Not that we should be judging this month’s cover stars The Linda Lindas by the date on their birth certificates. Proof if it was ever needed that age is but a number, the garage punk quartet have dropped a debut album that puts the majority of their much older peers to shame. They’re leading off an issue with so much to celebrate contained within. Bob Vylan are kicking it to the pricks with a new album that defines the term ‘vital’. Girlpool are showing that first impressions are just a point along a journey, with a
record seven years on that would have been unimaginable then, but now sounds like a sonic crowning glory. Puppy have returned with an album packed with scuzzy, fuzzy charm, while Simple Plan prove that heritage still has something left to say. And that’s just scraping the surface. Enjoy!
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
Riot.
THIS MONTH >>>
EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
The Big Story
“We want to sound like we can fill a stadium” With a new line-up, new music and fresh ambition, Bury Tomorrow are a band reborn. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Fraser Taylor, Adam Taylor.
4 Upset
Prince Daddy & The Hyena have come a long way since their breakthrough debut, but new their new self-titled record shows them pushing outwards to make their best album yet. p.10
With a huge roster of all-star collaborations, HEALTH are having fun through adversity. p.16
With their defiant new album, Scottish punks Cold Years are coming out swinging. p.22
Upset 5
Dad Prince Daddy & The Hyena have come a long way since their breakthrough debut, but new their new self-titled record shows them pushing outwards to make their best album yet. Words: Rob Mair. Photos: Kay Dargs, Brooke Marsh.
10 Upset
rock.
Upset 11
HEALTH service. 16 Upset
.
With a huge roster of all-star collaborations, HEALTH are having fun through adversity. Words: Linsey Teggert. Photos: Daniel Roland Tierney.
D
on’t commit to a genre. Stay on the outskirts of any movement or scene. Create a confusing, almost cryptic timeline of releases. Welcome to HEALTH’s ‘how to stay relevant 101.’ Not only are they more relevant than ever, but the LA noise-rock trio are about to release their most exhilarating record yet, over 15 years into their career. “I don’t think any of us anticipated that we’d still be doing this,” says guitarist and vocalist Jake Duzsik. “A lot of bands from our era and our scene are gone - not that that’s a negative thing - just oftentimes music is a youthful artistic expression that connects to a zeitgeist. Things are so cyclical that you can have an ascendent moment of being a buzz band, then there’ll be a changing of the guards, and certain things pass out of fashion.” When HEALTH first burst onto the LA DIY scene in a cacophony of glitchy
electronics and pummelling, mind-melting drum beats, the cynics amongst us can be forgiven for thinking they were a flash in the pan. There were hints of buzz band moments: the Crystal Castles ‘Crimewave’ remix, for instance, or the self-titled debut recorded in iconic LA venue The Smell, but HEALTH have stood the test of time. “Part of what has helped us to be fortunate enough to continue doing this, is that we never really had a genre or a specific scene,” recalls Jake. “Even coming out of the scene we did in LA, with The Smell and that downtown noise scene, we were very far afield: we weren’t a garage punk band. On the other hand, there wasn’t really a movement of music that burned out that we were stuck with. We were always on the outskirts, but we were lucky enough to have a dedicated fan base to allow us to keep doing things.” Jake is quick to point out that the band have
also experienced several serendipitous occurrences, one being the scoring of the soundtrack for the Max Payne 3 video game in 2012. Despite murmurs that they were ‘selling out’, it was a hugely successful venture, and just one of the many examples of HEALTH using the fluidity of their sound to their advantage. “That helped us reach so many people who had never heard of us, connecting us with the gaming culture, who in turn tend to be more connected with heavy music culture. On the last collaboration record, we made, ‘DISCO4 :: Part I,’ we did tracks with JPEGMafia and Ghostemane, who are both musical artists in completely different niches with large fan bases, and both of those guys only knew us because of the video game. “It’s little things like that where we’ve been lucky enough to have opportunities that have connected us to new people. We’ve continued Upset 17
Get
With their defiant new album, Scottish punks Cold Years are coming out swinging. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Cameron Brisbane.
22 Upset
better. Upset 23
Breaking through with an unexpected viral video filmed in a library, there’s so much more to The Linda Lindas. As their debut album drops, they might be the future of punk, but they’re ready for the here and now. Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Zen Sekizawa
Upset 31
38 Upset
A real force for positive change, London duo Bob Vylan are one of the most vital names in UK punk right now. As they release their new album, they’re both doing good and having fun. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Derek Bremner.
Upset 39
Digging deeper than ever before, Girlpool are coming into their own with an ambitious new record full of feeling. Words: Linsey Teggert. Photos: Amalia Irons, Alexis Gross.
42 Upset
Upset 43
Pure Embracing both pop hooks and loud riffs, Puppy’s new album ‘Pure Evil’ is packed full of much-needed lo-fi fun. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: James Clare.
46 Upset
evil.
Upset 47
More than two decades in, Simple Plan aren’t ready to slow down yet. Words: Steven Loftin.
P
ierre Bouvier isn’t ‘just a kid’ anymore. The Simple Plan frontman is racking up twenty-plus years in music, and now he’s toting his band’s sixth album cocked and loaded, ready to snap the consciousness of alternative music back to the pop-punk mainstay’s way of being. But that ticking clock doesn’t stop Pierre from feeling as fresh as he did back when he and his band appeared like spring-loaded action figures, poised and ready to take on the world back in 2002 with their debut album, ‘No Helmet, No Pads… Just Balls’. “I’m realising that I’ve come to a certain age now, I’ll be 43 this year, but I don’t feel like that,” Pierre beams. “I feel like I’m still the guy singing ‘I’m Just A Kid’ and ‘I’d Do Anything’ on stage. And I’ve realised that I’m
always going to feel like that person. “However, we cannot stop the years from going by. I think [about] Mark Hoppus, it was at a time when we used to talk to him about our music and stuff, and he was 27. We thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s so old!’ And now I’m like, holy crap. I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about!” Time is an inevitable passage, and being in a band puts you in a unique position. It means that when it comes to, say, your sixth album in twenty-plus years, there’s time for reflection. ‘Harder Than It Looks’ is exactly that for Simple Plan. It’s their chance to embrace how far they’ve come, and how much further they want to go. But unlike their name would suggest, things can be a bit tricky. “People look at Simple Plan
or any big band, and they think that it’s a life of luxury and it must be so easy to not have to work for a living and blah, blah, blah,” Pierre says, eyes-rolling. “But for us, we’ve worked so hard on this band, and to be able to be here still today after all this time, it’s harder than it looks.” The album’s title holds no illusions or hidden meaning. It’s as barefaced of a statement as you’ll get. Perhaps unsurprising given this is a band who rocketed to fame with such bite-sized philosophies as “I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare”, but sometimes a few simple words are all it takes to portray a heft of meaning. “It’s a lot of work to be in a band. It’s kind of like being in a marriage with a bunch of other people, and you don’t get to have make-up sex; you just have to communicate… Not Upset 51