Strasbourg – Veglam

I’m not very suprised to see Wattie (singer in French punk rock band DEAD END) releasing a post-punk album since the guy has always been a huge CURE fan and you can hear this from the start with the piano and synth driven opening song “Dark Indside.” Although the vocals on “No Signal” also sound CURE influenced, the song itself sounds closer to modern post-punk that bands like FRUSTRATION play so well. The punk side of Wattie shows more in “She Loathes Me Now”, more WARSAW than JOY DIVISION ! “Syd Ogy” puts an end to this EP with style and pure darkwave fashion mixing 80s analog synth to Robert Smith guitars. Short and very sweet, this EP is quite addictive and will make you want to listen to more. /Laurent C.

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French punk rock band DEAD END has been around for more than 20 years! Despite all those years and numerous line-up changes, Wattie (vocals/guitar) always managed to keep DEAD END alive and kicking.
On this new album, you can obviously hear Wattie’s punk rock’n’roll roots in songs like “Autophobia”, “The Cheater”, “Loser”, or “Shout”, and while some songs like “Bring Us Solutions”, or “Political Shits” are on the edge of pop punk, they also have a strong anarcho punk feel, which doesn’t make DEAD END an easy band to label. Wattie’s vocals have also always contributed to make DEAD END stand out, and this new album is no exception!… Songs like “Love Is Pain”, or “Degeneration” manage to keep a raw punk rock energy mixed to a darker feel. On the other hand, “N.O.V.A.” and “Forever Missed”‘ bring the best of 90s/early 00s Californian punk rock to mind with sunny and catchy choruses, and “Oi Boy!” is an ode to Oï! Some might be surprised to hear that the song “Black Thoughts” sounds like a tribute to The CURE, but it’s not surprising when you know a bit about the band and Wattie.
“Suicide Notes” proves us once again that DEAD END will never be part of “Mediocracy”, and hopefully, it will help them to finally get the recognition they deserve. /Laurent C.

http://www.deadend.fr
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