Album Review: Bleeding Knees Club Is One To Join In “Chew The Gum”

Bleeding Knees Club Chew The Gum is truly is an album of a bunch of young kids bashing their heads and guitars into music. There is a not an over-thought or under-thought to this record, which is why it is breezed entertainment. It is four tracks in which a bunch of guys play their hearts out in discord, which is, basically, punk music. Hence, their EP embodies the mental chaos but exuberant fun of being a young kid.

Crazy to say that a young man feels doom and dread, espeically because images of youth are so gleeful. Being young should be your happiest experience, yet punk music is about the falseness of that image. From “Sick Feeling” to “Cyberdoom”, Bleeding Knees Club is basically combatting feelings of apathy and disappointment with their surroundings. My favorite lyric of the album comes from “Chew The Gum”, which says “Chew The Gum/ Until The Flavor Is Gone”. Of course, this lyric could mean many things; either stay an apathetic machine or push yourself to the edge. Either way, there is an excess of self-destruction that they tap into that, in some ways, is muddled amongst youth’s “invincibility complex”. It is not that we think we are invincible, we just live like we are. Thus, amongst their bashing drums and raging guitars, you feel like you could smash through a wall with the Cool-Aid man.

Although Bleeding Knees Club would describe themselves as garage-pop, I would, definitely, see the Australian band as emo-punk. They are, certainly, sentimental and can have a sweetness to them that is “poppy” as in the love-letter lyrics and beach-ready, guitar melody of “Sun House”. This track is 100% garage-pop, and the others, certainly have the flare. Moreover, Alex Wall’s lead vocals capture that emotional in-between of “not caring”/ eager to feel connected.  Yet, it is the punk influence of the Bleeding Knees that make them a club to join. For More Information On The Bleeding Knees Club and to buy Chew The Gum On April 14 Click Here.