Album Reviews

Giles Bidder, Iona Cairns and Bob Barrett are Great Cynics, one of the most fun punk bands in the UK at the moment. Following 2011’s “Don't Need Much” and 2013’s “Like I Belong”, they have now released their third album “I Feel Weird” on Specialist Subject Records. And guess what? It’s all good. Even better, it’s the band’s best release to date.

Calling Great Cynics a punk band is actually cutting them short. They have the energy and just the right amount of grit one usually associates with punkrock, but at the same time they’ll throw power-pop and slacker rock influences in the mix that made me think of Cheap Girls (Ian even contributes vocals to “”I Went Swimming). Add some bigass hooks, singalong choruses (“Everyone’s A Little Bit Weird”) and just a whole lot of fun and you’re looking at one mighty fine album. Giles’ and Iona’s vocals complement each other wonderfully when they’re singing together, but each of them is just as capable to tackle a song on his or her own.

Listening to songs like opening track “Want You Around (Chunky)” or “North Street”, it’s hard not to get swept up by so much enthusiasm. Rounding out this pretty much flawless collection of songs, is “By The Sea”, a breezy affair that sounds a little bit different from the rest of the album. Think of a festive Frank Turner. It’s the perfect ending for an album that seems to be written as a soundtrack for the summer. 

There’s honestly nothing bad to say about “I Feel Weird”, Great Cynics’ most accomplished album to date. It’s everyone’s guess where they’ll go from here!