Punter Punter 12″

In 2020, Melbourne, Australia had a particularly rough nine-month COVID lockdown policy that has left PUNTER with plenty to yell about. On their self-titled 12”, the Aussies play charged-up hardcore punk infused with rock’n’roll, and while this MOTÖRHEAD-influenced style of hardcore usually has a sex-and-drugs party vibe, here not so much. Not far beneath the surface of rabid vocals, riffs on riffs, and galloping drumming is a record largely about the systemic assault on lower-class people by a government under the guise of precaution and safety (it should be said that PUNTER is vehemently pro-vaccination). This isn’t a boneheaded diatribe about losing “freedom,” it’s about feeling robbed of your culture and autonomy for the sake of a false sense of security, a feeling that most people (especially young people) can likely relate to. Closing track “A Year’s Silence“ sums it up a little too perfectly with the heartbreaking line “I don’t wanna stream another funeral again.” If you need a cathartic purge of any lingering COVID-induced anger, give this one a spin.

• Reviewer Eric Anderson
• Label Active Dero / Drunken Sailor
• Issue MRR #481 • June 2023