ALBUM REVIEW: Wasted Energy – Press Club

Following on from the spectacular success of their 2018 debut album Late Teens, Melbourne’s melodic punks PRESS CLUB return with that ‘difficult second album’. Fortunately for them, they seem completely unfazed by the challenge as the superb follow up, entitled Wasted Energy, more than matches their debut. There are hooks aplenty and a noticeable maturing of their sound, with added layers of melody and an increased lyrical wisdom that only comes with growing that little bit older. The fire-cracking energy is still there too, with many of the tracks on offer sure to be future highlights in their blistering live performances.

The driving Seperate Houses opens the album in wondrous fashion, recalling the likes of THE MENZINGERS and GASLIGHT ANTHEM with its bursts of melancholic tinged urgency and yearning arpeggios. The track also displays the ridiculous talents of all four band members, not least the wise-beyond-her-years vocals of Natalie Foster, already one of the most mesmerising front women out there. As she sings “I’m insecure, and I’m feelin’ scared now as we both live in separate houses,” her talent for creating a lingering hook is clear for all to hear.

Dead or Dying is another highlight in an album packed full of them. The track features fuzzy, pulsating bass lines and gorgeous guitar work bolstered once again by the powerful vocals of Foster who at full pelt shares a passing resemblance to MARMOZETS’ Becca Macintyre. Lead single Thinking About You chronicles Foster’s encounters with a stalker, a dark tale unfolding beneath the song’s disarmingly bright energy and beautifully melodic bass lines. It’s noticeable that much of the upbeat music here belies the overall darker tone of the lyrics, as Foster tackles those bittersweet changes in our lives we all experience as we grow older but not necessarily wiser.

Obsessing, the album’s emotional epicentre, is reminiscent of both GIN BLOSSOMS and PARAMORE with it’s urgent, wistful melodies and tender small town melancholia. An anthemic gem of a song, it features Foster’s most heartfelt vocal melodies of the entire album and hints at where PRESS CLUB may take their sound on future releases, should the punkier side of their sound abate a little. Many bands would kill to write a song like this, yet PRESS CLUB make it look so damn easy. Elsewhere, New Years Eve is a frantic, hardcore infused slice of frantic energy showcasing the talents of drummer Frank Lees whilst the closing stomper Twenty-Three ensures the album burns out rather than fades away as Foster exclaims “I can’t see what’s right in front of me!”

Whilst in those closing seconds Foster may sound unsure of the immediate future, what is certain to anyone who listens to this album is that PRESS CLUB are destined for the big time. To produce an album of this calibre so soon after an acclaimed debut is testament to the bands passion and verve. For this listener, album number three can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, lets enjoy Wasted Energy and be sure to catch this band live.

Rating: 9/10

Wasted Energy is set for release August 16th via Hassle Records. 

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