Punkadonk introduces STONE's confident abrasive sound
"Punkadonk EP"
Having been riding a wave of hype throughout 2022 – a year which has seen them light up stages in support of Sam Fender and Yungblud – Liverpool four-piece STONE's finally debut arrives.
The band’s candid nature and brash attitude has steadily been capturing attention across the UK, and Punkadonk delivers on the attention the band have accumulated in spades. Playing like a musical exploration, examinations of the Gen-Z experience are framed by chaotic soundscapes that ooze attitude.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than on “Waste” – a track self-assured in its arrogance and confident in its delivery. Lyrics – sung by frontman, Fin Power – bemoan anything and everything, from over-taxed cigarettes to Power’s lack of notoriety. The aggressive delivery of the vocal crafts a mood that’s fired home by raucous and unforgiving instrumentation that makes no apologies.
Punkadonk is not an EP that sticks to one approach though. More conservative sounds are exhibited on the EP’s lead single, “Money (Hope Ain’t Gone)” - a track that strives to find optimism in politically dark times. Here, a more accessible musical core sees Power’s vocal at its most exposed; almost bare even, against the song’s stripped-back pre-choruses. Distorted chaos is never too far away though and often threatens to breach the surface.
While the EP plays, for the most part, like a statement of intent from a group yearning for more success, there are inferences that this is a band keen on not taking themselves too seriously. The penultimate track, “Radio Ready” best exemplifies the seemingly blasé attitude Stone have towards their own achievements. Its tongue-in-cheek lyrics make fun of those pushing them towards radio-friendly material, a notion to which they loudly and promptly raise a middle finger.
Punkadonk feels like Stone’s first proper introduction, their first opportunity to create a platform on which to build. They use it to experiment with where they might want to go, rather than staying set in a single sound. Though the tracks sometimes feel like pulling in opposite directions, the EP affirms Stone as a force to be reckoned with. Here they are, loud, abrasive and with their eyes fixed on the future.
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