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EP review: BE N!CE reveal ‘It’s Getting Harder’

By Richie Viral
London four-piece BE N!CE return with ‘It’s Getting Harder’, a six-track, fan-funded and independently released second EP. BE N!CE sound like a band finding strength in contradiction: funny and furious, ridiculous and painfully serious, political one minute and deeply personal the next. And right now, while apparently it’s getting harder, there’s no doubt that BE N!CE are Continue Reading
MC16 main - photo by Will Hutchinson
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Album review: MC16 reckon ‘We’re Gonna Need A Milkman’

By Richie Viral
When everything is going wrong, forget the police or politicians, what society really needs according to MC16, is the reassuring presence of the milkman. 'We’re Gonna Need A Milkman' is a twelve song follow up to the midlands-based trio’s 2025 debut 'Machine Code’ and is supposed to be their happier album. The punk foundations remain wonderfully obvious throughout - Continue Reading
RIS Special main - Whoremones - photo by Phil Thorns
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Real Rebellion Starts Here: Highlights from the Rebellion 2026 Introducing Stage!

By Richie Viral
Don't let the name fool you. Rebellion Introducing Stage doesn't just mean young, it means new to Rebellion and the Rebellion crowd, and as usual, that means bands from here there and everywhere - of all shapes and sizes! These are only a few of our highlights. The RIS and Pavillion featured dozens of bands over the weekend - No hype. No algorithms. No nostalgia. Just Continue Reading
New Releases Punk News Reviews

EP review: Young Punks Trivia drop their debut – ‘Home’

By Richie Viral
On paper, Hannah Hays (14, guitar and vocals) and Lydia Stubbs (15, drums) are impossibly young to be turning out a record this assured. In practice, Trivia's debut EP ‘Home’ quickly makes their age irrelevant. Trivia already have tunes, confidence and something of their own beginning to emerge. Now perhaps they need to sharpen it, rough it up and see where the noise takes them.Continue Reading
Rat Boy main
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Album review: If This Is What Essex Sounds Like, Turn It Up! Rat Boy’s new release ‘CRASH!’

By Richie Viral
There are records that arrive politely. This is not one of them. 'CRASH!', the new album by Essex genre-bending indie Punks Rat Boy, does as the title suggests - crashes through the door and launches into full attack from the first buzzsaw chord. If The Clash had grown up on Essex housing estates, swapped reggae singles for skate videos, and discovered hip-hop before they Continue Reading
Shooting Daggers main - 2026
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Mini-Album review: Shooting Daggers bring us ‘The Real Life Thing’

By Richie Viral
Shooting Daggers are genuinely invested in the principles they sing about; inclusivity, solidarity, feminism and grassroots community, while standing firmly against prejudice and exclusion in all its forms. 'The Real Life Thing' is a seven-song mini-album marked by a fierce energy, variety, and cool musical nous, unified by the message firmly at its core. It’s authentic, Continue Reading
The Overbites main
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Album Review: The Overbites – ‘Hopeless Overthinker’

By Richie Viral
On 'Hopeless Overthinker', Dundee’s The Overbites have delivered a debut album that is filled with singalong hooks, self-deprecating wit and yet has the resigned indignation of a band trying to survive the pressures of modern life without losing themselves in the process. They aren’t reinventing punk rock here. Instead, they’re using its most enduring qualities; honesty, Continue Reading