Angry at the world? Like fast music? Hate your government and/or job? Then this is the band for you!
Unleashing their first full length studio album, ‘Suspicious Package’, Reading UK punks Tape It Shut are more than ready to take on the establishment! Flourishing from their own scene with their unique political punk rock sound, the band have been around for over a decade, releasing several rad EPs in that time. Regulars in and around Reading’s riotous Punk arena, Tape It Shut have also played several big festivals, including Rebellion and Manchester Punk Festival.
‘Suspicious Package’ is jam-packed with sixteen brand new punk rock songs, brandishing the band’s usual angry political edge. Filled with catchy, rage-filled anthems about the daily grind (‘Employee Of Hour‘ and ‘See Yourself In Five‘), and the worrying political climate we exist in (‘Deathtraps Waiting To Happen‘ / ‘Logical Sense‘), with ‘This Evening‘ written about the devastating emotional impact it all has upon us..
Tape It Shut are:
Dan Tape (They/Them) – Guitar and Lead Vox
Kane Preston (They/Them) – Bass and Backing Vox
Andrew Owens – Drums and Backing Vox
Beginning at the start of the working day, everyone’s waiting for the train doors to open.. but one selfish prick in a suit thinks he’s better than everyone else and pushes his way in. He doesn’t clock his comeuppance appoaching in ‘Com-Mutiny‘, hah! Frenetic drumming from Andrew and solid bass picking by Kane launch this first song full-tilt down the tracks.
A tower block wrapped in plastic can be seen from the window.. ‘Deathtraps Waiting To Happen‘ was written about the terrible and totally preventable tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, which claimed 72 lives, and the subsequent refusal of numerous similar building owners to make these dangerously constructed dwellings safe. “Common sense shouldn’t take a fucking sacrifice” screams Dan.
Pondering the situation as we conclude our train journey, favourite live song ‘$cam‘ tackles the ‘load of bollocks’ that is ‘trickle-down economics’ – seriously, does anyone actually believe this ‘concept’ works?!? The cost of living is artificially inflated by greed at the top, and the workers at the bottom can never keep up. “See the price of everything it’s going up, What a scam what a scam what a scam, When they tell you you’re simply paid enough, What a scam what a scam what a scam!”
As we arrive at work, it seems we’re not allowed to speak our minds, and our jobs are constantly under threat.. ‘Employee Of The Hour‘ is a million-mile-an-hour diatribe about the horrible things bosses say: “And if I hear so much as a disruption from your mouth, I’m gonna discipline you til’ you fall into place. And if your productivity it falls below this line, We’re gonna fire you – good luck with the rest of your life..”
More workplace insanity happens (don’t get us started on ‘appraisals’) before you even get the job – the popular interview question ‘See Yourself In Five‘ comes under fire by Tape It Shut. “See yourself in five what a ridiculous notion. A simple trick question to test my devotion, To people I’ve just met, yeah, myths of promotion”. The track ends with a quote from internet advice-giver Randomhand “So where do you see yourself in 5 years time? BE HONEST. You’re probably going to be underbidding for a job through an app on your phone and find out you’ve just killed a stranger for a bucket of cold soup.” Spot-on!
The over-processed choices at low-cost outlets where we quickly have to grab something to eat in our short lunch breaks are under the spotlight in bass-driven ‘Food Food Food‘. “It’s normalised, We don’t scrutinise, Or think too hard when we’ve got to eat” – another part of the corporate machine, making profit from a workforce stuck in this dire situation.
Having sold our souls to the internet, we’re now ‘Easy Pickings‘, as the algorithms track our responses to advertising. “Know with this data we can notice trends, When you’re weakest when you’re likely to spend, Prey on mental health we don’t care where it ends, ‘Cause what harm could it do?”
The excellent ‘Logical Sense‘ features fellow Reading punks Missing The Scene. The biased, racist comments coming from some of our work colleagues (who haven’t bothered to check the facts, of course) make us want to explode! “Your anger’s misplaced, And in this case, Mate you’ve been tricked. And what did they do to you? What did they actually do?” Missing The Scene vocalist Rachael adds her soaring voice to the bridge of this song, as Dan implores people to think before parroting bigotry.
‘Normalisation II‘ calls out the demonization of those who are struggling (the homeless, refugees fleeing war, children living in poverty) by the far-right, and how the news normalises this. “And now there’s protests of racists, Thinking that they’ve won, Don’t wanna live here anymore, I’m terrified of what we might become.”
More savage basslines decry the antics of ‘Parasites Inc‘. Kane howls out the middle 8; “He’ll buy out the blood banks without consequence, Treat drugs like assets not life-saving cures, Treat property like cash not a place you’re secure, Create scarcity for profit we cannot ignore, Their worth is their money and nothing ever more”
Time to head home, but on the way out, your smarmy colleague waylays you to give a totally unwanted ‘Patronising Pep Talk‘. This track kicks arse musically and lyrically: “Kill your own family to get yourself ahead, Sacrifice your friends to make more bread. I don’t need a patronising pep talk from the likes of you!”
Walking to the station we’re urged to ‘Take One Please‘ – a ‘news’paper full of spiteful rhetoric “It seems to infect every aspect of our lives, The damage ain’t immediate, From this torrent of media, But it leads to effects that you might not recognize, Have you considered all the long term costs, In the way whispers shape each and all of us, Or do you simply not give a fuck?” Dan punches out a plethora of gritty guitar riffs on this track!
On the commuter train home, there’s an unattended suitcase. We’re all used to hearing the police warnings, but in ‘Announcement To The Carriage‘ there’s an opportunity to be realistic about it “But one man, Frantically wakes me from my trance, He draws my attention to a suitcase, I haven’t given a second glance, There’s no blood dripping from it or tentacles as such, But he’s terrified”. There’s very little chance that it’s anything suspicious, and indeed this proves to be just a case, but the man is a racist “He chuckles that we need to be so careful with these Muslims, I retort that the case had a no race nor a place of origin, His smile fades he goes a shade of red righteous rage, Like an explosive waiting to happen on this evening train. He screams at my generation with no self-preservation.”
Expanding upon the point, ‘Suspicious Package‘ takes a closer look at why the man’s outrageous bigotry is so unjustified. “Don’t you find it suspicious, How you’re jumping at the shadows cast? And don’t you find it suspicious, How the scapegoats chosen they never last? And don’t you find it suspicious, How you’re taught there is never enough for more? And don’t you find it suspicious, How we always seem to blame the poor?” Andrew must have an extra arm somewhere to be playing these drum patterns!
Finally we arive home, and try to decompress from the day.. ‘This Evening‘ talks about the compounding effects of stress “You patch yourself up, And it’s on with the show, It’s hard to use up, What little we have left, Between work and the rest, I guess I sleep when I’m dead.” More top-notch guitar work from Dan here. Punktuation are stoked to present the video premiere on 25/11/25 of this song:
Our final track ‘Sleep In The Ashes‘ summarises how we got to this point: “We get sick and so so tired but we continue till we expire, This can’t be all there is work can’t be all there is? Change the way I look at it I’m not broken or damaged, It’s the world that’s fucking sick.”
A ‘day-in-the-life’ snapshot which will resonate strongly with so many, this well thought-out and produced album gives gives us a fresh, much-needed sonic smack around the lugholes. Make sure you see Tape It Shut live – you’ll be in the mosh pit with them before you know it!
‘Suspicious Package’ comes out on November 26th, 2025 in partnership with Cats Claw Records, Snake In The Grass Records and Punk Rock Radar Records. Order the album on CD or purple/yellow splatter or lucky dip vinyl HERE or on Digital Download HERE
We also love the detailed album artwork by talented local artist Niki Constantine!
Catch Tape It Shut at their Album Launch all-dayer show at The Butler in Reading on 6th December, with 8 other top bands! Excellent value tickets HERE
Main Photo Credit: RUTH RAE
- Com-Mutiny
- Deathtraps Waiting To Happen
- $cam
- Employee Of The Hour
- See Yourself In Five
- Food Food Food
- Easy Pickings
- Logical Sense [Ft. Missing The Scene]
- Normalisation II
- Parasites Inc
- Patronising Pep Talk
- Take One Please
- Announcement To The Carriage
- Suspicious Package
- This Evening
- Sleep In The Ashes
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Usually found jumping around down the front at gigs, I also relish taking photos and videos, singing, speaking with fellow music fans, and asking musicians the questions nobody else does. Writing about my favourite bands and connecting with people who love music too keeps me more-or-less sane! I’ve worked for over 25 years at a video production company, mainly filming live music events, therefore I have an additional backstage perspective on the scene.
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