Ayyy, another local band to review! Peterborough’s Club Brat released their first EP this past September, and recently launched said EP with a national tour.

‘Four Songs’ brings distorted, garage-y punk and noise pop sounds, taking hints from the likes of Fugazi, The Pixies and Soft Play (formerly Slaves); along with the wider production style of Steve Albini.

The five-piece states that the new release encourages “listeners to draw their own conclusions“. This is just spiffing news for a reviewer like myself, and I shall heed this accordingly. Let’s get into it!

1. 25 Cameras

This EP is somewhat interestingly organised in tempo order of shortest to longest, whether intentional or otherwise. The opening track ’25 Cameras’ blazes in with fast riffs and ponderings of “What did you learn?“.

While expressions of comfort and trust in authorities and surveillance are interspersed throughout, there are also frequent holdings to account regarding caused disruptions to everyday life.

Overall, the song conjures feelings of betrayal from unspecified people of global influence, and the footage used in the below video emphasises this. By going off of said video, I now feel like I’m cheating here with the whole ‘draw my own conclusions‘ thing, at the first hurdle. But I digress, and you can’t tell me what to do.

2. Goodbye Pop Culture

The next track was the first to be released, in the lead-up to the EP’s whole entry into the streaming ether, and it certainly whet my appetite. Conversely, appetite for undying worship for celebrity at large remains non-existent going into the next song, ‘Goodbye Pop Culture’.

This song takes aim at superficial discourse, pining instead for discussion of authentic substance. The “nah na nah“‘s from the backing vocals provide a particular mockery towards ever-common parasocial behaviours, particularly towards politicians.

While feeling “lucky” to not be overwhelmed by “malice and rage“, the protagonist rejects “facetious conversations” emphatically.

3. In It For The Money (So-La-Ti-Do)

The third track ‘In It For The Money (So-La-Ti-Do)’ (Praise be to parentheses in song titles!) brings the tempo down to a strut, while distorting vocals in parts.

Continuing on the theme of pop culture worship, the song focuses on the attraction that fame can bring for yes people, and fans more widely.

Coming from the perspective of people of influence declaring that “you’re stuck here with me“, there is an exploration of a tendency to hang on the words of people based on the following they already have, rather than their expertise.

4. Watch

Speeding things up again, the concluding track ‘Watch’ gets a bit more personal, individualising the target and declaring that they’re “better off stranded in your cell“, in the chorus.

Exploring a difficulty to fit into the current zeitgeist, there is regret around how things are currently going, and a certain self-deprecating shame that misfortunes weren’t detected sooner.

There is a nasty breakdown for the bridge of this song, followed by an ending of angrily delivered prose around how “I am blind, but I can still hear my bells chiming“, among other sentiments of overriding trepidation, but also pained wisdom.

Closing Remarks

As a whole, this is a crescendo of a release, but each part can be equally rewarding by itself.

Learned distaste and distrust towards those in foregone power shines through, as does the thought-provoking, artsy manner of conveying such sentiments – especially having seen these songs performed live at least once.

All-in-all, Club Brat is certainly a band to watch going forward, if you’re into catchy but complex material that borrows much from 2000’s garage punk, but in equal measure delivers on contemporary perspectives.

Thanks for reading, as always! Up the Posh, and up the Punx 🤘