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Tag: Punk

  • The First Year by Here For You

    The First Year by Here For You

    Note From the Author: This review was originally posted on the Start-track blog.

    Artist: Here For You

    Album: The First Year 

    Released: October 25, 2025; Atlanta Zone Records 

    Here For You is a band from Brooklyn, New York and on their first album: “The First Year” they offer up an eclectic mix of folk and pop. I actually covered “Theme Song 2” their last single for this album a few weeks ago here on the blog[This is in reference to this Start-track blog post].  I bring this up because it is my favorite song from the album and I feel like if you haven’t checked it out yet, you definitely should. 

    “French Toast” is hands down my second favorite song from the album, mainly because it is a very tongue and cheek reflection on the food industry, food culture and marketing. It does this under the guise of a song about enjoying breakfast and all conveniences provided by modern times that make it great.. It’s an up beat song that is highly infectious. It is hard not to start singing along. About a minute into the song there is a jazzy bit that is really fun. It is a pure bop. 

    There is an extraordinary vibe presented by “Night at Maud’s”. I would frankly, be remiss for failing to mention it. The song starts out with an extremely twangy guitar riff that is quite enjoyable.The group vocals are exceptional and the distorted guitar that ends the song is a great finish. The lyrics are about hot summer nights in the city and that is just about as relatable as anything. All this adds up to equal the ultimate sit and chill song.

    “Brunson Floater” is a song about the people in your life that you can always count on for support and wanting to reciprocate that support. I must confess that I had to google the name of the song because it presented a metaphor I wasn’t New York and/or sporty enough to initially understand. That being said, I think its rather delightful now that I am in the know. This song features some more group vocals that I think work really well.

    The last song that I want to talk about is “Go Forth”. This is probably the song on the album that is the most folk punk in terms of vocal presentation, which is something that I quite like. And again the group vocals in the song are superb. What I really like about this song in particular is the ending lyrics are borrowed from a Utah Phillips song. Aside from me personally being a Utah Phillips appreciator in general, I think that there is a direct line between his music and themes of solidarity, friendship, and finding joy presented in the song and in the album in general. To me, it feels very much like modern folk paying homage to someone who helped shape the genre. 

    “The First Year” by Here For You can be defined largely by its poppy folk performance, its use of stellar group vocals, and its themes of overcoming adversity through solidarity and friendship. On top of all that, they still manage to fit in a dash or two of punk rock attitude. This is a very strong first album and I am definitely looking forward to more from Here For You in the future. 

    If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase The First Year by Here For you via Amazon Music 

  • In Case You Missed It Vol. 2

    In Case You Missed It Vol. 2

    October has been a pretty wild month for releases. There have been several great albums that we have covered here on the blog and even more no doubt that have slipped past my gaze. There have also been an incredible amount of singles that were released this month. In this volume of, In Case You Missed It, I am going to spot light some of those releases that I really enjoyed. 

    “Temperance” by Mega Infinity; released October 7, 2025: Mega Infinity is a four piece ska band from New York City. They lean to the harder side of the genre and this song puts that on display. It’s the first single released in the run up to their newest album, releasing sometime winter of next year. The song uses the moon as a metaphor for personal empowerment. Michi’s vocals are powerful and maybe even a little angry. Especially as they scream, ‘I am the tide’. Something wholly appropriate for this kind of hype song. The guitar solo that sits almost directly in the middle of the song goes hard, and brings the hype up to an insane degree. Temperance hasn’t been this hard since the 1920’s. 

    “Heart Attack” by Cold Wrecks; released October 10, 2025: Cold Wrecks is from Brooklyn, New York, delivers a surprising up beat song about the struggles of dealing with anxiety and crisis. It is refreshing when artists engage with these kinds of topics in a way that can be uplifting rather than in a gloomy manner. While gloomy is valid, upbeat is good as well.  I have been a fan of Cold Wrecks for quite a while. If you have been following me since back when this blog was a ‘radio’ show streamed on twitch, you know I played them frequently. This is the second single they released this year. I hope this is a sign of a new album hitting the internet at some point in the near future.

    “Daydream” by Underneath The Lookout; October 14, 2025: Underneath The Lookout consists of the duo Suzy and Craig and hailing from the UK. They produce a unique blend of reggae dub and ska. Their newest single came out mid-October and clearly demonstrates that reggae and ska do indeed belong together with dub. This song has a lot going on in a way that makes it a wonderful cornucopia of sound. It’s got horns, melodica, some (I assume) synthesized ‘ska’ organ, and bass. And let me tell you, that bass is so good. It’s got a low rumble about it and beat that underpins the whole song. While I definitely think the musical composition is the star of this song, I do think that Suzy’s vocal performance is great as well and the message of the song is very much relevant to today. I too frequently despair about the downfalls of modern life. 

    “Time Warp” by Bad Mary; released October 21, 2025: This song made this list for multiple reasons. First of all, is that I have been wanting to write about Bad Mary for a while now. They are a great glam-punk band from Long Island, New York. Then there is the fact that it is Halloween today, so not including this spooky classic from my favorite musical felt wrong to me. It is an incredible rendition of the song. I could barely keep myself from singing along and grooving while listening to it while taking my kid and his friend to school this week. It was hard, but I think i succeeded. 

    “Radio Player” by Josaleigh Pollet//Crowd Shy; released October 28, 2025:  SLC musician, Josaleigh Pollet, just released this song and the moment I heard it I knew I had to write about it. The song starts out with the sound of a single beating heart and slowly is accompanied by this creepy, swirling, wispy, ethereal ambient noise. It is the perfect set up for a feeling of seclusion and loneliness. Moments later the synthesizer hits and it is also amazing at crafting the chilling ambiance. Then Josaleigh’s vocals kick in and they are soul-stirring and beautiful. The lyrics are cryptic and make you feel even more isolated and perhaps lost in time. The second half of the song is a reference to the famous scene from the movie poltergeist. It is at this point that you realize what you are experiencing is a haunting and it hits you with a shudder. The question then becomes, is Josaleigh talking to you about the ghost? Are they  talking to the ghost? Are you the ghost? Oh, lord, It is so good. 

    These songs are not by any stretch of the imagination the only good singles that dropped this month but they are a selection that I think you all should check out. I hope that y’all enjoy them as much as I have. 

    If you liked the songs I reviewed here and want to support the artists as well as this blog please consider picking them up digitally via these Amazon affiliate links—>

    Temperance 

    Heart Attack

    Daydream 

    Time Wrap

    Radio Player