ALBUM REVIEW: Pet Needs – Fractured Party Music (Xtra Mile Recordings)
Pet Needs are a four-piece punk rock ‘n’ roll band based in Colchester, Essex, and this is their debut album.
Founded by guitar-slinging brothers George and Johnny Marriott, with the line-up completed by Jack (drums) and Rich (bass), they have risen quickly through the ranks.
Despite having only a couple of self-released EPs to their name, they’re brimming with self-belief. There’s a real swagger to this record, which blends punk, indie, post-hardcore and much more.
Pet Needs have shared stages with the likes of Muncie Girls, Buzzcocks, Maxïmo Park, PiL and The Undertones, as well as winning lots of new fans at major festivals, among them their producer, folk-punk troubadour Frank Turner.
He’s made a good job of showcasing their sound and knack for a catchy tune. After a so-so start, the album kicks into gear with the excellent single Tracey Emin’s Bed, which addresses self-image and mental health. It’s been getting loads of play on Radio 6 Music, and is a real earworm, as frontman Johnny sings: “It’s like Tracey Emin’s bed, in my head/Kind of creative, but mainly just a mess.”
Sympathetic Accent Syndrome picks up the pace and throws in some Lep Zep-style riffs, showing they know how to rock out, and latest single Toothpaste is built around another huge riff and features a squalling guitar solo.
Overcompensating reminds me of the best early ’00s indie bands (The Fratellis/), while Pavlovian, the lead single, is a muscular rocker about the absurdity of consumer culture, which muses on why we “salivate at the sight of cheap T-shirts”.
Kayak is the punkiest track on the album, full of vim and vigour, as frontman Johnny screams “I don’t want to die, even though it would be good for business”, while Roses features bluesy riffing which morphs into the sort of post-hardcore you’d find on a Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes record.
It’s not all pedal to the metal though, there’s nuance too; As The Spin Cycle Span and the closing Embers prove there’s more than one side to this multi-faceted band, with the latter urging “grab life by the balls boy and live it, ‘cos before you know it you’ll be lying right here, like embers, eyes like embers”.
This is a record full of energy, catchy songs and the release of pent-up frustrations produced by the lockdown of 2020. If you like melodic rock ‘n’ roll served with a healthy dose of cynicism, this album’s for you. 8/10.
- Fractured Party Music is available now on CD and digitally, while a limited edition transparent blue vinyl LP (due on or around April 19) can be pre-ordered from Pet Needs’ Bandcamp page HERE.
