Pop punk is a genre which is looked down with scorn by many, and this is increasingly becoming a justifiable viewpoint; overproduced tracks and immature, trite lyrics come are some of the problems becoming prevalent in the genre. Of course there are loads of bands which go against these tired tropes and The Murderburgers are one of those bands.
This is pop punk which reflects the bands earliest, simpler influences such as The Ramones and The Queers, yet The Murderburgers have managed to bring it up to the 21st century with better produced and seriously well-written songs. The album kicks off with ‘Another Way Out Of Here’ – a great sign of twelve punchy, fast-paced songs to come. There’s not a hint of repetition here, showing how you can use three or four chords and yet produce refreshing, exciting punk music. This is mostly due to the fact that Fraser Murderburger’s voice shines through really strongly, and is backed up by some excellent vocals, a notable example of this being on ‘Everything Is Muted And Brown’.
So, at face value, ‘These Are Only Problems’ is an energetic, catchy and genuinely interesting record to listen to – the lyrics, however, are what set this apart. Every track has been written with emotion, and clearly the lead singer’s past experiences and feelings were in mind when writing the record. ‘All My Best Friends Are Dying’ is a highlight, managing to be poignant and touching as well as infectious; the same goes for ‘Christine, I Forgive You’. Pain, loss, depression and everything in between are evoked in a self-deprecating and humorous way – it’s deceptively light-hearted, but the album benefits from this.
Not a track on this record seems out of place, and it’s near impossible to write any of the songs off as ‘filler material’. This is brilliantly written, profound and accessible pop-punk, and if you’ve fallen out of love with the genre; grown out of it; or a fan of it anyway, this is a record which needs to be heard.
SAMARTH KANAL