I bought a Misfortune Cookie t-shirt before I'd even heard one note from them - the only time I've ever done such a thing. Not quite an ode to Chixdiggit (Misfortune Cookie did actually exist), but they hadn't released anything, and I hadn't seen any of their live videos at the time.
So, why would I walk around with the their logo brandished over my ample torso if I'd never heard them? Well, they are made up of ¾ of Bear Trade, one of the best melodic punk bands since Leatherface, and are completed by wonderful singer-songwriter Helen Chambers, who was (is?) also ⅓ of Dear Everyone; with such pedigree, they were always gonna be good.
There aren't many female vocalists in this sub-genre of punk, and whilst Helen Chambers' warble can take a little getting used to, once you do so it can be easily as affecting if not more so than any of the gravel-gargling beard punks that usually front such bands. Her vocal range, both in terms of pitch and emotion, certainly sets the band apart, but the musicianship and songwriting are also top notch.
Opener "Party" is the perfect introduction, starting as it does with vocals unadorned aside from 8 individual strums on the guitar, before the rest of the band kicks in, and you're in no doubt what you're in for. Next up, "All Dogs Are Nina" got the (almost quarantine-style) video, and is a great song about Helen's dog. The quality is maintained across the whole album, including the pairing of "Lonely", which manages to be hauntingly intimate and also a damn fine punk song, and "Alabama" which starts and ends as a catchy pop song of all things. Then there's the closing duo of the epic "Peaky Blinders" and the slow burner that is "The Mad Riddle"... it's all just genuinely very very good.
Yeah, I miss Bear Trade, but if they had to call it a day in order to give us Misfortune Cookie... well it's more than a fair exchange.
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 / 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 (𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆) / 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺:
Comments
Post a Comment