Oi oi, what’s this? Another album review? Go on then!

Tape It Shut are a three-piece speedy punk outfit that has been positively ripping up Reading and surrounding areas for about a decade. Along with the band’s name being inspired by the Against All Authority song ‘Silence is Golden but Duct Tape is Silver’, other influences include Direct Hit!, PUP and Strike Anywhere.

Their anger-fuelled first full-length album ‘Suspicious Package’ takes shots at work culture, financial greed and the general political climate.

Having enjoyed hearing some of the songs on this release live a couple of times, most recently at The Shadow Shuffle all-dayer in Reading earlier this year, I’m keen to dive in and explore their studio repertoire further. Let’s do it!

1. Com-Mutiny

The first track ‘Com-Mutiny’ takes us onto the train that appears on its album art, and derides those fortunate enough to afford first class travel and act dismissively to fellow commuters.

The song’s chorus declares that “decency is now a myth” due to reigning inequality, while stating that wealth does not translate to morals. There is an overall advocacy for taking back the quality of life that “the 99 percent” – who are stuck on the same train as the antagonist- have long missed out on.

Lead vocalist Dan’s quick delivery, combined with the riffs and backing vocals, made this cracking opener wonderfully reminiscent of 2000’s Bad Religion.

2. Deathtraps Waiting To Happen

The first previously released single to appear on the album (having come out in 2023) is ‘Deathtraps Waiting To Happen’. It addresses the swathes of unsafe infrastructure built for cheap, at the expense of residents’ safety – bringing to mind an array of fatal incidents including the Grenfell Disaster.

Stating that “common sense shouldn’t take a fucking sacrifice”, the train theme is kept going by describing those impacted by asbestos-laden premises as “glued to these burning tracks”.

In the highly chantable bridge section, instead of resignations and compensation, the song calls for “regulation so it doesn’t happen again”.

3. $cam

The persistent cost of living crisis, with inflation surpassing wages, is the subject of the third song – and second single – on Suspicious Package. While slowing the tempo down a tad, the intensity is sustained with a bit of screaming in the vocals.

With the simply chanted refrain “What a scam, what a scam, what a scam”, there is a discussion around the need for so many to have multiple jobs to survive in this climate.

Alongside referring to the trickle down economic theory as “a load of bollocks”, the song implores the listener to know their worth and avoid working just to exist.

(In case anyone is wondering, its song title, appearing as a Dollar sign followed by ‘Cam’, took me some decoding – hence why this review is late to be published – but it actually appears to be another way to spell ‘Scam’. Happy to be of service. While I’m providing editor’s notes, I’d like to announce that from the start of 2026, access to this blog will be subject to age verification and subscription, starting at just £5000 a pop. Thanks 😜)

4. Employee Of The Hour

Continuing with the singles now, ‘Employee Of The Hour’ stays on the thread of work culture, focusing on a need to be a drone without “personal traits” in order to avoid being sacked from customer-facing jobs.

Bringing the angriest vocal delivery so far, the song features a list of “gripes with my current place of employment”, from lacking care for mental health impacts and useless offers of free yoga, to being unable to unionise and address questionable corporate ethics. In addition, it sheds light on how fickle management can be about meeting company targets.

Here, the band picks up the pace again musically, ending the track with a decent guitar solo.

5. See Yourself In Five

Continuing the workplace discussion is the fifth track and fourth single ‘See Yourself In Five’, which appears incredulous at the “ridiculous notion” of planning so far ahead in a career ridden with dead-end jobs.

Rather than providing a list of untrue platitudes about how passionate they are about the job, the protagonist advocates for short term goals “to survive another week and go to a show”.

The song pines for “a parallel dimension” away from inauthentic pretension and endless hours without reward. Its initial strutting tempo in the beginning chorus mocks the idea of living to work, before snapping into a blaze of discontent.

6. Food Food Food

Next is the shortest song on the album, ‘Food Food Food’, all about how stingy and unfulfilling lunch breaks can be.

Following a bassy intro, this track discusses the difficulty of getting affordable grub that’s enjoyable beyond being “easy to consume”, within an hour. There is also the perception that there isn’t much time to think about the nutritional value when grabbing something some fast food.

The round of repetition from all three band members saying “Get it” is very fun.

7. Easy Pickings

‘Easy Pickings’ intersperses mirthless, bass-based (ok, shan’t be using that term again.) verses with typically quick and melodic choruses. Combined, they paint a picture of the advertising bombardments that we are faced with daily, accompanied by potentially harmful purchasing temptations that can arise.

Stating that many end up as “a cash cow, no, a wallet whale”, light is shed on Buy Now Pay Later schemes that can, and have, caught vulnerable people out. Meanwhile, terms and conditions are often signed for without people explicitly knowing.

Additionally, the song mentions the use of data to “rig elections, target floating voters, weaponise perception”.

8. Logical Sense

Ayyy, this one had a music video before the album’s release, and features fellow Reading punk outfit Missing The Scene! This one starts off full pelt, and includes a cool guitar solo.

‘Logical Sense’ refers to the widespread and “misplaced anger” fuelled by treacherous influences and disinformation amplified by today’s social media algorithms.

The song implores those taken down a path of baseless hate to “use your eyes and realise that it’s not true”. There is a feeling of fighting a losing battle, but a vow – led in the bridge by Missing The Scene’s Rachael – to not walk away or “be subtle ever again”.

9. Normalisation II

Next to be presented is the sequel to Normalisation from previous 2019 EP ‘Dinosaurs vs Robots’. Also under 1 minute and 40 seconds long, it stays on the topic of overexposure to news cycles across TV and digital platforms, and how it has impaired the ability for many to feel for those suffering.

Continuing the derision towards a widespread lack of sympathy around current events, this song questions “When did homeless people become the enemy?”, as well as a focus on protesting and discriminating over listening.

While also stating “I don’t want to live here anymore”, there is a feeling of fear around “what we might become” as a country.

10. Parasites Inc

Taking aim towards rent and price-gouging is ‘Parasites Inc’. This bad boy brings a Lorentzian function graph of tempos (truly one of the graphs of all time), with a speedy rage about halfway through, and a gnarly breakdown chorus at the end.

The song vehemently disagrees with the notion that landlordship (yep, that’s a word, apparently) and other kinds of asset ownership are a hustle, let alone a full-blown business, while deriding “the monsters you’ve become“.

Shots are also taken at pharmaceutical stakeholders, who “treat drugs like assets, not life-saving cures”.

11. Patronising Pep Talk

‘Patronising Pep Talk’ takes us back into the office, where an employer provides just that, trying to encourage more work at the expense of friends and family.

Overall, the track conveys a common corporate culture focused on brown-nose politics and stakeholder profit at all costs. Alas, it is sadly a way of engaging with staff that “has worked for him before”.

Repeating that “I don’t need a patronising pep talk”, the protagonist wonders whether their boss is “a robot in a skin suit”.

12. Take One Please

The insidious effects of social media grifting is the focus of twelfth song ‘Take One Please’, which also features a nice breakdown towards the end.

In the song, delivered in parts from the perspective of an influenced individual, “the price of freedom” manifests itself in targeting “cultures, not the names” based on “narratives I’ve never believed”. More widely, tendencies to hijack news are “finely trained in our rat little brains”.

Verses vary in tempo (I’m not Googling graphs again, sorry), separated by little interludes of calculated, jutting guitar plucks and drums.

13. Announcement To The Carriage

Back on the train now with ‘Announcement To The Carriage’ which, like the first track ‘Com-Mutiny’, begins with railway PA tannoy sounds.

Lyrical delivery speeds up during the course of the song, and covers a mask slip on the part of a certain fellow passenger. The man points out the protagonist’s case, thinking it’s abandoned, before stating a “need to be so careful with these Muslims”.

Upon being told “the case has no race, nor a place of origin”, the passenger goes onto a tirade that projects his own subtexts.

14. Suspicious Package

The topic of the previous track proves a particularly nice prelude into the title song, which is also the longest on the album at over five minutes.

Continuing to go all in on political affairs and discourse, typical left wing arguments are described as “miserable”, while right wing talking points are referred to as “mythical”. Such disparate debates and arguments, according to the song, are “why we don’t talk politics anymore”.

Overall, the song advocates for questioning everything, and wondering whether sources may be suspicious. Fluctuating between contemplation and outburst, it ends with a sample of a news report that would likely be in equal parts hilarious and worrying. (It certainly was for me, anyway!)

15. This Evening

Ayy, another music video! The most recently released single ‘This Evening’ remarks on the exhaustion that can set in following days on end of work, leaving little room for “chores to do” and “your loving partner who just needs you”.

Questioning “am I wasting my life, am I wasting my time?”, the unrelenting temptation to procrastinate and preserve mental energy sets in.

Indeed, the screaming of the chorus towards the end is a mood.

16. Sleep In The Ashes

The final track ‘Sleep In The Ashes’ is the second longest, and one of two clocking in at over four and a half minutes.

This stays on the theme of restless evenings, this time touching on digitalised overstimulation.

The chorus, accompanied by very pleasant backing vocals, discusses burnout while “everyone’s in competition”. A lovely guitar solo is to be heard following said chorus, too.

Closing Remarks

All in all, this is a smashing debut full-length from Tape It Shut. It brings earnest angst about the political and corporate landscapes, with a desire to fight for better and a nice hint of humour too.

If you feel pissed off at the world, and enjoy fast-paced, melodic but angry tunes, you’re sure to find this release fulfilling for your ears.

Massive thanks to Dan for supplying lyrics and other info to aid this review, and as always, I appreciate you giving this a read! Up the Posh, and up the Punx 🤘