It seems to have been a never-ending wait for Knuckle Puck’s debut album, ‘Copacetic’. It’s been 4 years of EPs and collaborations for the band, but KP are finally back and this time they come with their first full length album.
After listening to the album in full a couple of times I realised Knuckle Puck clearly took the time to fine tune every song and make sure every detail was perfect. They set the bar high with the popularity of their EPs, which allowed them to tour with bands such as Seaway, Neck Deep, Man Overboard, Modern Baseball and play at festivals like Slamdunk and Warped tour. There was definitely some level of pressure to deliver a strong full length album.
They mix quintessential pop punk vibes and then add their own twist, allowing the band to create their own sound – definitely making them original and different from the rest. The growth in popularity for pop punk has certainly worked in Knuckle Puck’s favour but they’ve managed to accumulate fans across the world and create (what I think is) one of the best albums of the year.
‘Ponder’ is a great example of how KP are shaping their own form of pop punk, Joe Taylor (vocals) effortlessly makes transitions between shouting the lyrics and then singing ‘everything is copacetic’ which sounds like a different person completely. Although Ponder is slower and very short it certainly isn’t forgotten about on the album.
Their song, In Your Crosshairs has definitely won some fans over, the way Joe’s vocals work alongside the guitars and the subtle backing vocals it ties together so well to create yet another unusual track.
In KP’s earlier works they focused on creating catchy tunes within relatively short songs but this album demonstrates a mixture of short and longer length tracks. ‘Untitled’ is really different for Knuckle Puck as the song almost reaches 8 minutes and contained a mixture of repetitive vocals and lengthy instrumentals.
It’s fair to say that this album is a big step up from their already popular extended plays and it was a well anticipated album. Knuckle Puck are certainly leading the way of pop punk by keeping the genre fresh, and it’s got me excited to see what other bands like The Wonder Years, Neck Deep and Roam have in store in the next year.