Album Reviews
Hailing from Northern Ireland, melodic punk rock outfit No Matter have been quietly chipping away at making a name for themselves for a little over a decade now. During that time, they have toured relentlessly while perfecting their sound at the same time. All their hard work has now led to ‘Bad Chemistry,’ the band’s latest album featuring 14 bangers.
They kick things off with the Screeching Weasel/Teenage Bottlerocket influenced ‘Brickwall’ before dipping their toes in Blink-182 waters with ‘It’s Boring’. Elsewhere on the album, the double-time rager that is ‘Crowd Pleaser’ sounds Less Than Jake with some hardcore energy while ‘Otherside’ is an absolute doozy of a pop punk song featuring some of the album’s most memorable melodies.
No Matter may not be reinventing the wheel on ‘Bad Chemistry,’ but they definitely know their way around a good melody and pay tribute to those that have come before them, while also making sure to keep things sounding fresh, concise and cohesive. Another thing the band has going for them is the fact that they spread out vocal duties over guitarist Dan and bassist Caitlin, while also working in plenty of three-part harmonies with the help of second guitarist Jarlath.
Bad Chemistry? I don’t think so. This album sees a band firing on all cylinders without a hitch.
Bad Chemistry track list:
- Brickwall
- It's Boring
- In Spite of You
- Shitegeist
- Hope It's Hell
- Canola
- Gravity
- Crowd Pleaser
- Fine Print
- Otherside
- The Machine Stops
- Tinfoil
- Unsaid
- Like A Masochist
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
