In Defense of the Genre is a column on BrooklynVegan about punk, pop punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore, ska-punk, and more, including and often especially the bands and albums and subgenres that weren’t always taken so seriously.
There’s one month left in 2023, but before we begin this home stretch, here’s a look back at November. I highlight some new songs from the punk world below, but first, some features and reviews from this past month:
* 10 Underrated Classics of Early 2000s Emo
* blink-182’s untitled LP at 20 – the album that gave pop punk its ar rock moment
* Dying Wish’s Emma Boster names her top 10 hardcore albums of all time
* Racetraitor break down every song on their tremendous new album
* A night of fourth-wave emo nostalgia at Foxing & The Hotelier‘s The Albatross / Home, Like Noplace Is There 10th anniversary tour
* An awesomely intimate night with awakebutstillinbed, Stay Inside, and Like Roses
* the Hot Mulligan / Heart Attack Man / Spanish Love Songs / Ben Quad gig rocked
* Botch were larger than life at their NYC reunion shows
* November album reviews: Paint It Black, Racetraitor, C.L.S.M. (fka Coliseum), Flying Raccoon Suit, Dying Wish, Fuming Mouth, Cauldron, and Vantage Point.
We’ve also got our exclusive Alexisonfire box set, reissues & magazine and our Glassjaw box set & book up for pre-order now, as well as some new Taking Back Sunday vinyl, Balance and Composure’s Only Boundaries (splatter), The Callous Daoboys’ Die On Mars (tri-color twister), a hardcore mystery bundle, and more punk vinyl.
Read on for my picks of the best songs of November that fall somewhere under the punk umbrella, in no particular order…
Carpool – “Can We Just Get High?”
Carpool vocalist/guitarist Stoph Colasanto says he resisted writing another banger like the band’s breakthrough single “The Salty Song (Erotic Nightmare Summer)” until his brother suggested he should, and here’s the thing: “Can We Just Get High?” is even better. Its chunky, choppy power chord riff is similar to its predecessor, but the hook (“Love me! Hate me! Don’t care, can we just get high?”) is even stronger and more instantly-timeless. The sentiment in the chorus is fairly straightforward, but the song as a whole is much deeper than meets the eye. Frivolous stoner anthem this is not.
Cloud Nothings – “Final Summer”
Cloud Nothings are back with their first proper single in nearly three years, and it’s a real barnburner. With motorik jams and a hooky, pop-punky chorus, it sounds like a cross between Deerhunter and Weezer but in the way that only Dylan Baldi can do. It’s a song about finding contentedness within yourself, and it instantly feels up there with Cloud Nothings’ catchiest work.
Infant Island – “Another Cycle”
As much as Infant Island exist within the “screamo scene,” they’re often sonically much more of a metal band and “Another Cycle” is one of their heaviest songs yet. It’s their first single off upcoming album Obsidian Wreath, and it’s a heavy/beautiful hybrid that owes as much to black, death, and sludge metal as it does to post-rock and screamo. If fans of anything from Deafheaven to Full of Hell to Portrayal of Guilt aren’t listening to Infant Island yet, change that now.
Weakened Friends – “Awkward”
Snappy, punchy, ’90s-style alt-rock anthems never go out of style, and Weakened Friends have just written one that feels like it would’ve been a legitimate radio hit in 1997. Singer/guitarist Sonia Sturino says that she wanted something a little more positive to break up Weakened Friends’ “really depressing” catalog, and “Awkward” captures the joy and adrenaline rush of a new relationship as naturally and effectively as Weakened Friends often capture sadness.
Death Pill – “Monsters”
Ukraine band Death Pill’s self-titled album from earlier this year is a fired-up mix of classic hardcore, crossover thrash, and Riot Grrrl, with moments that range from brutally heavy to strikingly catchy. “Monsters” off their new split single with UK band Shooting Daggers picks up where the LP leaves off, and it aims its venom at parents who want their musician children to get a real job.
Short Fictions – “Christmas On A Dying Planet”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Short Fictions are here to balance out all the Christmas cheer with a reminder that the world is fucked. “Fog and rain coat this Christmas day/I know that soon we will perish,” Sam Treber shrieks on this raw screamo song that’s heavier than just about everything on the new Short Fictions album. It’s a scorcher that reminds you it’s not always easy to fake happy.
In an effort to cover as many bands as possible, I try to just do one single per album cycle in these monthly roundups, so catch up on previous months’ lists for even more:
For even more new songs, listen below or subscribe to our playlist of punk/emo/hardcore/etc songs of 2023.
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Browse our selection of hand-picked punk vinyl.
Read past and future editions of ‘In Defense of the Genre’ here.
