Our final New Band of the Week of 2023 takes us over to the east coast of Northern Ireland to discover punk rock quartet The New Normal. The band have crafted a lively punk sound that they describe as “loud and angry” and tell us “if you’ve ever played any of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, we are for you!”
The New Normal started out when, during the lockdown in 2021, drummer Neil Woodside posted an advert on Musician Search N.I. seeking a bass player for a punk band. Bassist Carlin Brown found the ad and brought guitarist Paul Buckby on board to join Neil and vocalist Cathy Lewis. Within a couple of weeks, the new four-piece already had a number of songs written and have built on that to release debut EP Not Yours in October.
Describing the sound they’ve created since, Carlin told us: “We are very in line with the American style of punk rock/skate punk. Our songwriting process is probably the same as most bands but to break that down briefly, usually I will come up with a bassline and we will write a song surrounding this or Paul will come up with a guitar riff and vice versa. A lot of the songs we have out at the moment started as basslines so they maybe have a different sound to them than the ones that began life as guitarlines as both me and Paul have different styles musically.
“Depending on who has written the main riff, the songs can sound entirely different from one another, which to us is a great thing and keeps us feeling fresh and constantly exploring new ground. We have a fantastic drummer in Neil, you can give him basically anything and he will just be jamming along beside you in seconds. Of course without failure to mention, Cathy is our lyricist and will come up with the majority of the lyrics in our practice room with us and we will all contribute ideas for themes, formats, etc… But mainly, she is our rock and whilst we write the ‘music’ she is definitely what drives it.”
As mentioned, the band recently released their excellent debut EP Not Yours, which opens up with the title track. It begins with lively guitar chords and driving drums that support Cathy’s engaging vocals. The verse ends with repeats of “What’s mine’s not yours,” which tees up a chorus of big shouty vocals “My mind, Not yours, My voice, Not yours, My body, Not yours, It is mine.” Second time around, the chorus ends with a cry of “It’s not fucking yours,” the pace slows down and builds back up again with a chugging guitar that feeds into a deliciously heavy final blast of the chorus. Check it out here:
That’s followed by the short and sweet but feisty Meta, which comes in at 85 seconds long, then a personal favourite with the lively Inside, which features fast-paced vocals supported by driving guitars and drums and a cheeky little guitar solo.
The EP rounds out with Sick, which opens up with a cool little riff and chunky guitars that continue unto a verse of intense vocals that culminate in the heavy chorus cries of “I’m sick, Sick and tired.” And keep your ear out for an extra little surprise at the end of the track…
On the EP, Carlin said: “The release has been incredible to say the least. We are experiencing more listens, more regularly than ever before with a lot more interest being shown in our band from media sources that we have enquired to and even some we haven’t. Which is a lovely bonus! Musically, in short, you will find an 11-minute-long EP with four fast-paced and passionate songs that will sound familiar but still unique in your musical library.”
“Not Yours is a culmination of two years of songwriting and showcases four of our best songs that really define who we are and what we are about at this point as a band. We have a civic and public duty to dispel racism, sexism, bigotry, homophobia, transphobia or in short, hatred of any kind where and when it is found. Our message is very simply: Spend less time hating and judging other people for being different than you, for looking different, for acting different, for having different sex, for wanting to be different whether physically or mentally, for having in-depth scary feelings about themselves that they themselves may not have worked out yet or maybe for just dealing with something that is none of your business to begin with anyway and just be kind to one another.
The New Normal sound has been heavily influenced by old school punk rock and skate punk, with Carlin tellling us they have a running joke: “What songs are we working on today, the Offspring rip-off or the Bad Religion rip off?” They also take influence from the ethos, passion and energy of the American hardcore punk scene, as well as bands like Fugazi, War on Women, Petrol Girls.
And on what inspires them to write music, Carlin explains: “We have a lot of influences, in today’s modern world there are a lot of political, global, sexual, economic, humanitarian crises and issues. On this EP, we largely went after the feeling of being unsafe, unsafe walking alone in the street in the dark, feeling unsafe to dress how you like, the feeling of feeling unsafe when rejecting advances from strangers, feeling unsafe to speak your mind.
“As I mentioned earlier, we are extremely pro LGBTQ+ and believe EVERYONE should be treated equally with fairness and kindness. Whilst we have been praised for being ‘progressive,’ which is a lovely compliment, it’s a sad state of affairs that this is not the normal already. Other themes are political, coming from Northern Ireland and the history surrounding that. We have a number of songs yet to be recorded that we play live and deal with issues like not having a government or, when we do, one so rooted in the past that it does nothing to benefit its people and today’s modern culture. Namely we have a song called Steps on the Hill which is about this, which will likely be a single. Hopefully next year.”
The New Normal’s debut EP Not Yours is out now. You can see the band live at The Pavilion in Belfast on 29 December and they’ll have plenty more gigs through 2024. They also have a second EP in the works, so keep your eye out for plenty more coming from this exciting band shortly.
And Carlin adds: “We don’t care how you digest our music, steal it for all we care. We are just extremely grateful to each and every person who has listened to it, came to a show, promoted us (big shoutout to BGO Productions!) or even done the small but wonderous courtesy of hearing us out, like for this interview!”
You can follow The New Normal on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
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