Stand Atlantic - f.e.a.r.

Unable to tour their excellent 2020 record 'Pink Elephant', Australian pop-punks Stand Atlantic poured all their pent-up energy and frustration into a thrilling follow-up.

'f.e.a.r' (which stands for Fuck Everything And Run) is an idiosyncratic, frenetic mixtape that bounces across genres, hosts a number of features and shows a band who are supremely confident exploring whatever rabbit hole a song sends them down.

'nails from the back' is straight-up bubblegum-punk, familiar to their early work. It's offered up on side B, after a clutch of hybrid rock songs that smash through the gates that the likes of Fall Out Boy opened up a decade ago. Pop (the addictive 'pity party'), hardcore (on the thrilling 'molotov [OK]'), rap, trap beats, electronics and nu-metal riffs are shaken up with late-00s emo, led expertly by firecracker vocalist Bonnie Fraser. Ideas are flung furiously at the studio wall, and they stick.

With all the recent talk of pop-punk being "back", Stand Atlantic don't need to look to the past: they're too busy writing the future.