Flavours of March - Catch-up! - Bittersweet Press

Rock is on top form at the moment. The incredible Architects demolished the charts with For Those Who Wish To Exist, putting our scene where it should be – at number 1 – again this year, after You Me At Six’s stellar performance with SUCKAPUNCH among other rock favourites. The pace has been set, the scene is alive with bands ready to barrel forwards, and we at Bittersweet have been paying close attention. The first Bittersweet Hour of every month is always dedicated to hyping up these meteoric rising stars, so we thought we’d catch you up to the hype here as well, if you’re craving a little more info.

We’ve already been shouting about the wonderful Weatherstate with Hangar, Death Blooms’ deliciously nihilistic Fuck Everything, the similarly-toned but dizzyingly fresh Sadness and Complete Disappointment, DREGG with the gritty magic of Evolve, and PENGSHUi’s dirty, delightful Eat The Rich. Today, we’ll be catching you up with the rest of our Flavours of March, and how they’re defining the rock scene!

CLUB DREAD – Reptile

Right. Settle in, because CLUB DREAD have provided one hell of a rollercoaster on Reptile. These metal newcomers have got listeners in an absolute chokehold – we’re wrapped around their fingers, we’re hook-line-and-sinker-ed, we’re any other idiom that means we’re totally into it and can’t stop listening. CLUB DREAD practically drag us through the track at 100mph, blitzing through every level. There’s stomping, ironclad chords coming down heavy, there’s moments where absolutely everything drops away and we’re just haunted by a vocal line and a cymbal, there’s gigantic anthemic choruses. CLUB DREAD pack Reptile with grit, punch, and swathes of ambition.

Waterparks – Snow Globe

They were our Album of the Year 2019 with Fandom, put on one of the most chaotic live shows we’ve ever seen, and are generally just out to have a good time – Waterparks are one of the brightest (literally, dare we speak of frontman Awsten Knight’s always-enigmatic hair?) on the pop-punk scene right now. They’ve just announced that their fourth album Greatest Hits will be coming out later this year, and have once again annihilated convention by sharing the news with one of their most mellow songs ever. Gone are their characteristic technicolour guitars and hyperactive melodies – Snow Globe is a lofi, piano-driven track packed with reflective vocal inflections and dreamy liquid beats. Waterparks really can make anything work!

WSTR – All The Rage

There’s just something about a good pop-punk tune that has the ability to strike joy and energy even into the gloomiest of days, and All The Rage does this to an absolute T. WSTR have been steadily making their way into the UK pop-punk scene’s hearts across their last couple of albums, and All The Rage continues the trajectory of singalong buzz and pacey, excitable riffs. You can totally imagine a crowd giddily screaming along to “let’s go round again, again, again!” and jumping around in a sunny field – All The Rage is a slice of cathartic delight, and we’re desperate for more.

Doll Skin – Control Freak

Doll Skin have been quiet since their immense 2019 album Mark My Words, which cemented them as unbelievably powerful voices on the rock scene. Between their soaring vocals, cascading guitar lines, and the churning intensity of their choruses, they tick all the boxes of future icons, and Control Freak promises that they’re completely poised to take over the world ASAP. Melancholy hooks are thrown against pounding instrumentals in a perfect storm of rock excellence – whatever Doll Skin follow this up with is going to be huge.