Caelen Perkins – Hold The Lines
There’s a growing sense that many of the people in this world never really liked their fellow men at all, and that now they’ve been getting the opportunity to show just how much they dislike them. It’s not all a surprise that this exists, but it’s a surprise that nobody will stop it.
Worst of all, it seems that more and more each day is piling on the pressure. More and more people are choosing to beam negativity and violence into the world, and their voices are getting amplified by media channels that are designed to support them.
What are the punk rockers doing? For the most part, they’re staying silent. Speaking up too loudly is not good for business, and after all, they need to eat as well. That’s precisely why the protest songs of Caelen Perkins, powerful, funny and heartbreaking, are quite the rare find.
In “Hold the Lines,” some may hear political sloganeering. And while that’s certainly part of the song, it’s not all that’s to be taken from it, I think. Caelen Perkins sings about a world that’s suddenly become very ugly, mean and where common decency is being erased every day.
It’s not a typical punk song either. It’s a tune filled with humour, a strong hook, and a bit of C&W for good measure. A few people are singing songs about better days ahead, and they deserve our ears.
THE IMMUNE – When’s Enough, Enough?
A famous internet millionaire who, until recently, was busy peddling NFTs of his amateurish pencil drawings, always used to say that in this day and age of social media, if you can’t find a way to sell your product, you suck.
That’s quite the aggressive statement. However, the same millionaire doesn’t go on to explain why, in this era where everyone is using social media to promote some product or another, your product, or for that matter, his ugly pencil drawings stand out.
What’s more, this kind of thinking only encourages the belief that what you do, no matter how beautiful it is, doesn’t mean anything until someone sticks it online and it starts generating likes and engagement. It’s a sad state of affairs, and new pop-punk band THE IMMUNE are standing up to it.
What’s left to imagine when everything’s available? And how long do you have to keep shoving content until there’s nothing left to show? The IMMUNE are a confident with a clear direction. The band’s sound mixes pop-punk hooks with alt-rock moodiness. “When’s Enough, Enough?” is a song about reducing the beauty of art and life to a few clicks on the internet. It’s a hell of a start to, hopefully, a long career spent in front of real people.
