ALBUM REVIEW: Contender – Fightmilk

Making punk driven, power-pop loud sounds designed to get you dancing, Contender, the brand new album from four piece London band FIGHTMILK combines all of the above, but with a new found sense of vulnerability. The band’s previous EP releases and debut album drop Not With That Attitude encompassed FIGHTMILK’s breezy britpop and anthemic alt rock sounds of that time, with a naïve attitude towards life, love and relationships. Coming into their second album release Contender however, the quartet have learned to embrace a more mature, emotional and exposed approach to writing the 14 punk inclined songs that make up album Contender. 

Whilst distinctively different compared to their first full length, notably saying goodbye to the britpop influence felt throughout the first, FIGHTMILK are bringing in a new wider ranging batch of sounds for the second. Opener and title track (contender) sets the tone for the remainder of the record’s all encompassing sounds, with a melodic 40-second piano-led number and the first of many beautifully composed interludes, which include later songs (tender) and (bartender).      

“The world is just one big dark room/That makes you feel sick” sings vocalist Lily Rae in second song Lucky Coin. Setting the tone for the beginning of the track, the song addresses feelings of hopelessness and the harsh realities of the state of the world we live in in its opening moments. However, as the song progresses, an air of freedom that casts aside any worries for the future are presented during the song’s closing and climaxing ending, where Rae sings from her heart “I’m a lucky coin I just flip myself back over.” Some of the album’s most standout song-writing and singing to match, Lucky Coin is very much a tale of two halves. On the head’s side, the song can’t escape the negativity of the dire situation of the world, whereas on the tail’s side to the coin it contemplates the positives in life with a new found sense of invincibility.  

If there is any song taken from Contender that harks back to the early sounds of FIGHTMILK it’s single Hey Annabelle! Including some of the core characteristics of britpop, power pop and punk into its soundscape, the song is based around guitar orientated melodies, catchy pop based hooks and a more mainstream leaning appeal, especially within the infectious repetitive lyrical structure that makes up the choruses. Hey Annabelle! nods back to the band’s roots, but it doesn’t linger there for too long, incorporating newer elements of blipping synths, harmony based group vocals and punk driven instrumentals to perfectly balance out the older and newer style to the band’s material. 

Double A-side lead single I’m Starting To Think You Don’t Even Want To Go To Space and If You Had A Sister provide the ultimate selection of songs that showcase the two sides to FIGHTMILK. The first, I’m Starting to Think You Don’t Want To Go To Space is the upbeat cut of the two tracks, and oozes melodic alternative rock and introspective indie-pop vibes that alternate between toned down verses and loud noisy choruses. It’s cosmic, celestial and totally other worldly. 

The second, If You Had A Sister, is the downbeat offering from the double A-side, as sonically the song takes a more ominous and slower approach opposed to its previous, a tone reflected in its lyrics. Taking influence from bands like THE CURE and TEARS FOR FEARS, FIGHTMILK bring their own brand of brutal honesty, sympathetic reflection and vulnerability here, regarding the emotional labour of one sided love told in the tracks lyrics “I don’t want all of the power/Just the strength that you took away/And your apology is meaningless/When you do it again and again and again” and “I don’t want to be here/I have to run away/Maybe if you had a sister/You wouldn’t be this way.”

Continuing down the slower route, Girls Don’t Want To Have Fun touches again on the tender side of the tracks to this album. A stunning slice of beautiful dark pop meets chilled pop-rock, the song sits lyrically and sonically somewhere between LANA DEL REY‘s Summertime Sadness and HOLDING ABSENCE‘s In Circles, crossing over dreamy and wistful vibes with sombre and emotive lyrics like “And the days are so long/And the nights are so long/When we talk about dying it feels like a pipedream.” Ultimately, Girls Don’t Want To Have Fun is a heartrending number that dwells on dark themes but manages to eventually find the light at the end of the tunnel. 

In the way of indie-pop and pop-punk leaning material, tracks Cool Cool Girl and Banger #4 show the more alternative side to FIGHTMILK. Cool Cool Girl is an anthem meant to fill arena-sized venues and festival fields alike, its infectious chorus a cover for the importance of the song’s subjects that frankly, honestly and directly challenge the accepted and mainstream visual appeal of a female in the music business. 

Much more heavier-leaning material follows in Banger #4. The song is a pop-punk banger, opening with a speedy battering of the drums and a fast-paced tempo, before diving into the poppier side of the song’s story of romantic heartbreak and crumbling relationships.  

Closing out Contender comes Overbite, a melodic pop-punk tune which reminds us all that each individual person is perfect exactly as we are. Opening with a little acapella solo vocal from Lily Rae, who packs a relatable punch singing “Last Night I freaked out and I thought I was dying” the song however, goes on to pleasantly talk about self acceptance, a mantra each of us should practice everyday. Accompanied by surf rock guitars, harmonies and hooks aplenty, Overbite bookends the album with a big joyful explosion of happiness.  

FIGHTMILK’s Contender overall is an album that sonically sways beautifully between melancholic dream-pop, melodic pop-punk and hard hitting alt rock. Lyrically the record is also an emotional rollercoaster across all of its 14 tracks, touching on more tender moments to joyful bursts of energy in its straight talking song-writing, something that makes Contender the most charming, captivating and delightful album in FIGHTMILK‘s arsenal.  

Rating: 7/10 

Contender is out now via Reckless Yes. 

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