Recently risen Chicago pop-punk crew, Knuckle Puck, are back with their second full-length record, Shapeshifter. Following their hit debut back in 2015, the band certainly have a lot to live up to and have provided yet another instalment of excellent musical strength, power and emotional discourse that got them noticed to begin with.

The overall tone to the ten-piece record holds a striking similarity to the band’s debut and reunites audiences with the heavy-hitting sound which made Knuckle Puck such a strong name in the genre. The opening few tracks are everything that Knuckle Puck fans know and love, ‘Double Helix’ is a single which I can see being the band’s next hit and is a definite new found fan favourite. The track lands very well and is the first of many awe inspired moments where Joe Taylor’s vocals really shine. Joe holds such an immense level of passion and raw energy within his lyricism which very few artists on the scene can match, this combined with the song’s equally mammoth chorus, really packs a great punch and acts as a great benchmark for the other tracks to thrive.

Joe’s vocals definitely carry the band’s essence and really make Knuckle Puck a memorable name with a very memorable sound. Despite the pop-punk genre reaching its oversaturated stages, Knuckle Puck definitely kept a hold of their unique spark which keeps them forever standing out amongst the riffraff. The tracks feel heavier and, at times, almost border on the cusp of hardcore whilst still maintaining the excitability pop-punk demands.

‘Everyone Lies To Me’ and ‘Want Me Around’ are pop-punk anthems at their pinnacle: hitting hard and containing a strong level of flourishing energy and dexterous guitar workmanship that fans of the style love. The tracks also incorporate a nice level of emotion, dancing around the themes of relationships which many will relate with, the angrier vibe greatly suiting Joe and backing vocalist Nick Casasanto’s tones brilliantly. When the two work in harmony, the clashing of styles brings a positive new dichotomy to the sound.

All being said, the production behind Shapeshifter has been a bit of a story in itself. The band actually entered the studio in early 2017 to then announce that they had to start from scratch halfway through production due to the album not feeling ‘right’ for the path the band wanted to take. This is an admirable admittance, no artist would want to release something they’re not happy with, however at times, the restart definitely shows. Small aspects of the record do feel almost rushed or unperfected as the band’s previous counterparts and, whilst they do not deter from the album’s overall feel, they act as a small annoyance when compared to past releases.

Likewise, the lack of song diversity is a definite notable trait which feels mildly underwhelming, each track on the record feels extremely similar to the last without any breathing room for any acoustically-led numbers where Joe could really show off his true vocal talents in a new environment. Even those which do begin slower or smaller soon blow up into yet another mass hysterical track, which is completely fine and was a key characteristic that gave the band a following. However, when doing a cover to cover listen, it really makes the record lose the edge which it found in the opening numbers.

Shapeshifter is not a demonstration of Knuckle Puck’s imperfections, rather it acts as a solid second album, which I can definitely see being a decent addition to their discography. The record demonstrates the hardships of releasing a product under a deadline but when comparing Shapeshifter to similar pop-punk releases of this year, it definitely doesn't hit as hard. Neck Deep’s fourth record, The Peace And The Panic, showed an all new side to their sound and even Seaway’s Vacation delved into some pretty heavy meanings which Knuckle Puck have just missed the mark on. It seems as though the band have very much played it safe with this one, making for a record which doesn't feel lacklustre, but had the potential to achieve more if it was given a little more time to mature.

Ben Walker

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