Punk always had a voice. And a loud one, at that. A voice that was happiest when it was taking a swipe at societal norms and political machinations, one that made us look closer at injustices and which acted as a rabble-rousing rallying cry for those who felt disenfranchised and defeated by the modern world. It also whined disproportionately about being bad at relationships and unrequited love, so it wasn’t all good.
But it is to the former subjects that Reading’s Launch Control busy themselves, and if the original punk pioneers had plenty of material to work with, the modern punk protagonist is surrounded by tenfold—an embarrassment of rotten riches, as it were.
Embracing the more hardcore-infused punk spirit of the noughties but peppered with enough rock riffs and muscular melodies to bring things bang up to date, a weave of innovative, dynamic moves – from punchy sonic charges to understated lulls, spoken word breakdowns to fist-in-the-air anthemics – this is punk that adventures beyond the traditional generic borders…way beyond.
And it is perfect for today. As late-stage capitalism runs rampant and the money men seem a law unto themselves, more and more bands are expressing their concerns in song, concerns that now go far beyond the traditional themes of girls and cars. But punk was always there first, and “Hedge Fundamentalism” (great pun, by the way) is the template that all those bands should aim to emulate.
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