EP REVIEW: Time And Place – Fake News

Time And Place is the most driven and focused chapter in the story of FAKE NEWS to date. Following on from their 2021 debut album Everyday Warrior and their 2023 EP Take Me Away, this EP sees the Queensland, Australia quintet document the highs and lows of modern life, full of heavy hooks and contemporary pop-punk. Across six songs, the band show why the future holds bright things for them.

Moving On is an upbeat and fast-paced pop-punk song that packs a lot into two-and-a-half minutes. It never outstays its welcome and smoothly moves into No Weakness, which is shorter still at under two minutes. It’s a lot more urgent than the first song, which helps to differentiate the two, although the lyric “Everything will be alright” does get a bit repetitive and the track does end rather abruptly.

The rest of the EP is even better. Radio has a rough-around-the-edges rock sound to it, whereas Not Giving Up leans more on the punk side of things. Rewind is a return to the fast-paced pop-punk sound that works well because of the break from the style provided by its predecessors, while closer Eve Of Destruction shows the band at their best. It throws in everything that is great about the EP and ties everything together, even adding some gang vocals towards the end of the song. Sonically, the EP is cohesive, even with some songs deviating away from the pop-punk sound.

Overall, Time And Place is another fantastic entry in FAKE NEWS‘ discography. It is loads of fun and a great example of less is more as almost all the songs make the most of their short runtimes. The band are clever enough to have two songs go in a more rock direction, which prevents the EP from becoming one note, and ultimately if you’re looking for a new pop-punk band to get into then Time And Place should convince you that FAKE NEWS are a fine choice indeed.

Rating: 8/10

Time And Place is set for release on May 29th via self-release.

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