livefreediyhard.com

Category: Album Review

  • Runway by Marc-Alan Prince

    Runway by Marc-Alan Prince

    Artist: Marc-Alan Prince 

    Album: Runway

    Release: May 5, 2026; Travel Well Records  

    To say that Marc-Alan Prince has been around the block is somewhat of an understatement. Hailing from Milwaukee, he has spent almost 2 decades touring the country, acoustic guitar in hand. He is a traveling man, if you will. His newest record, Runway, showcases that experience quite nicely. 

    The first two songs on this EP fall into a category I call outcast anthems. Track 1 “Runway” starts with some really punchy guitar that carries the song. This song is about feeling a lack of belonging and leaving town. The chorus is pretty hype. Marc-Alan’s raspy voice really delivers here and starts the album out on a good footing. “The Damned” is thematically very similar to the first track. I find myself wondering why they are right next to each other on the album. Just listen, y’all will get what I mean about outcast anthems. However, theming hardly matters when you taken into account the harmonica laid out on the track. Damn! I love it! Ultimately, I get why the song made the album. The harmonica alone sells the song for me; however, I am still left wondering why they are right next to each other in track order. It leaves me feeling a little overwhelmed with that particular theme. 

    “The Devil And Me” is a song about self-doubt built from a childhood that made you feel less than, the struggle to come to terms with it and the desire to love yourself. Learning to love yourself is the only way to set yourself free. ‘If there is a hell, I’ve been there. The devil is me.” It is that line that illustrates the point of the song the best. Your in hell, but ultimately you are the only one holding yourself there. Change is hard, especially when it means dealing with life long trauma. I love the analogy. Marc-Alan’s vocal performance is wonderful. You feel the struggle through his vocals in a visceral way. This is by far my favorite song on the EP. 

    In “Fighting Man”, the harmonica is back and once again it is fabulous. I am honestly all in on the harmonica. The song is the perfect capstone. Ending an album that is about struggle and survival with a fight song is great. The fight song is performed in a nonchalant style instead of the typical high energy you get from most fight songs. You know the type. The kind of song that is upbeat and metaphorically screams—I have finally found what I needed to keep fighting. This song isn’t that. It instead, invokes a resolute feeling that says— Of course I am going to fight because that is what I have been doing this entire time. It’s so matter of fact; it’s deeply inspiring.

    Runaway is a nice inclusion to the folk punk lexicon. If you are a fan of the genre, this is an album for you check out. It’s punk, it’s Americana, and it’s timeless in a way that only folk can be.

  • Harper Kill by Harper Kill

    Harper Kill by Harper Kill

    Artist: Harper Kill 

    Album: Harper Kill 

    Release: April 10, 2026; Tiny Lighter Records 

    I am going to be real with y’all, I don’t know much about the musical history of Michigan other than the fact that Eminem vomited his mom’s spaghetti onto a sweater there once, and a guy named Andy likes to party really hard there. Well, those 2 things, and the fact that one of the most interesting  punk bands I have heard in recent times call Grand Rapids, Michigan home. Harper Kill roughly 2 years ago served up a tiny taste of what they had to offer when they released their first EP “A Taste of Harper Kill”. I was absolutely enamored by it. So it is an understatement to say that I am stoked to just now be dished out a full helping of Harper Kill. 

    First, I want to point out the the songs from the EP are also included on this album. It kind of amuses me that they literally said they were giving us a taste of “Harper Kill” their full length album. I adore the pun. Seriously! For real I am only bringing this up because I had assumed my favorite song on the album would be “Death and Taxes” from the EP. I wrote about how much I loved it [here]. Boy was I wrong. While that song is still at the top “The Sun Will Do You Good” instantly won me over as my favorite from this release. It starts out with almost cartoonishly bright guitar. Then, the first words drift in sounding up beat and well meaning “We think its time to go outside, the sun will do you good”. Yes, the stereotypical advice delivered to individuals dealing with depression. Well intentioned, but realistically never a fix all. It is a great way to start a song that is about struggling with mental health and dealing with people who do not really understand, but try to help anyway. The line that really hits for me is the line from the chorus “I’ve got swagger like I’m Anthony Bourdain”. First off, of all the pop culture celebrities, he is probably the most punk and definitely has massive amounts of swagger. More importantly, however, is that he was an individual who battled with mental health even though he wasn’t very candid about it while he was alive. So, in a sense, this line has a double meaning. Its saying I am a cool guy while also saying—secretly, I am struggling y’all. This combined with the contrast of bright positive sound of the music and the grim reality of the lyrics make the song something really special. 

    “B.L.O.A.T.” is the sleeper hit to come over from the EP. It is such a great song and the opening guitar and bass are just super engaging and the guitar solo towards the end is the pure cherry on top. I must confess that the opening verse really sent me into a mini existential crisis. It straight up got me wondering if I am the B.L.O.A.T. I am constantly complaining about the government, about how things need to be run differently and I often do it with little regard for appropriate timing. Ultimately, the song is about the struggle of cutting a longterm friend out of your life after you have clearly grown past them. However, for me at least it is a nice reminder to maybe be a little more chill and self aware in regards to how I interact with my friends.  

    I am sure that I have said this a few times in the past, but I am mostly a lyrics and meaning kind of guy. The music is often secondary for me as a way to help convey and enhance the way the song is supposed to make you feel. “Antidote” makes me crumble up that belief and throw it in the bin. The guitars in this song are so swanky so cool that I just want to sit there and listen to them all day. The PA bit and bell that periodically rings through out the song adds this additional richness to the song that I love. The vocal performance becomes secondary in the song. Dylan Perkins has an exceptional voice especial for a punk band and here in this song it punctuates the music in a fantastic way. The lyrics become somewhat tertiary in my total enjoyment of this particular song.  The lyrics are about the souring of a relationship and I find myself wondering if it is the same relationship featured in “B.L.O.A.T.”. “Antidote” is the point in the relationship where the realization is made that it is toxic. And “B.L.O.A.T.” is the actual end. This is my head canon, anyhow. 

    Harper Kill, the album, is a great full length initial offering that has somehow exceeded the high expectations I had for it after the release of the 2024 EP. Every song on the album is a banger. Harper Kill, the band, manages to capture a sound that is high reminiscent for early 2000’s pop-punk while having their finger firmly on the pulse of modern culture and issues. Their willingness to engage with those issues is admirable and very befitting a modern punk band. I honestly feel that Harper Kill is going to go places. If I were you, I would definitely invest early in Harper Kill—as the kids say—because there are gains to be had.