Punk music first surfaced in the US in the 1970s and was popularized by notable greats like The Go-Gos, Black Flag, and The Misfits. The genre typically consists of short, fast-paced songs that have edgy melodies, and stripped-down instrumentals. Though Knuckle Puck wasn’t formed until 2010, when they got their start as a cover band,there’s no denying that they sit comfortably atop this genre. 

The Chicago-based 5-piece band consists of Joe Taylor on vocals, Kevin Maida on lead guitar, John Siorek on drums, Nick Casasanto with rhythm guitar, with Ryan Rumchaks rounding out the band with bass and backup vocals. “Disposable Life”, the band’s fourth studio album was released on February 4th and has been described by Taylor as a “…rebooting of Knuckle Puck.”

“Disposable Life is a reintroduction to Knuckle Puck: it’s a celebration of the past decade of the band and a supercharged mission statement for the future. It’s a sharp inhale, a spring-loaded blast off the starting blocks after the tumult of the past two years. It’s a sign of good things yet to come.”

The aggressive pop-punk album starts off with “Gasoline” which is a mid-tempo track that is a preamble to the entire EP and their “supercharged mission for the future”. The 3-minute song starts off strong with a fresh and playful guitar riff that quickly bleeds into the first verse. Though the song doesn’t have a chorus you find yourself mindless singing along to the thought-provoking diddy. 

“Lonely Island”, the third and my favorite track off the album, starts off deceivingly clean and raw but quickly picks up with a punchy and intriguing pre-chorus. This melody just exudes nostalgic warmth.  And if you were a child of the ’90s, this song will be a poetic punk ballad that you have on repeat for years to come. 

And how can we talk about punk without mentioning Blink-182? Lucky for you this riotous EP comes full circle with a cover of “Here’s Your Letter” from Blink-182s self-titled album. Mark Hoppus once described the 2003 hit as “mimicking people’s inability to communicate with one another.” Considering the overarching theme of the album,  this song brilliantly rounds out this five-track EP.

Overall, Knuckle Puck brought us not only a catchy, cohesive, and in-your-face EP, but they gifted us with Knuckle Puck 2.0. After over ten years these guys still reign supreme in their genre. They somehow managed to put together an album that feels fresh and modern, while wistfully walking us down memory lane.