Dead Poet Society - Fission

With the band borrowing their name from iconic coming-of-age film Dead Poets Society, 'Fission' is an appropriately introspective endeavour. The album explores the inevitable pain of growth while prowling bass lines and guitars fuzzier than Velcro sound off in the background.

Jack Collins' signature fretless guitar, tuned deeper than Marianas Trench, is the record's pulsating heart, giving true freedom to produce thunderous riffs and licks outside the typical tonal constraints. Finger-pointing, anthemic track 'I hope you hate me' at one point sees him mimic the human voice on the guitar, strings crying out in a ringing singalong. This single is followed by the fiery 'How Could I Love You?'. These two songs are separate acts of the same play, both cycling through the turbulent phases of a fallout. But it is 'Tipping Point' that acts as the album's emotional climax. Moody shoegaze instrumentals punctuate the air as frontman Jack Underkofler's voice slips in and out of a falsetto.

'Fission' is an infectious blend of rumbling garage rock and progressive indie. Further carving the path from their debut 2021 album '-!-', Dead Poet Society's second record brings a more refined approach to the swaggering sound they are known for, employing an audible maturity.