London quartet It’s Irrelevant offer up a fun and catchy alternative punk rock meets pop-punk sound that they describe as “fun, fast, moving” and for which they “would like to apologise for any distress caused by their continued activity.”
The band was formed by the core trio of Hakaran (guitar), Chris (bass) and Shahzad (drums), who grew up in East London and have known each other since primary school. They grew up listening to alternative rock, metal and punk, formed a band and started writing music together. Realising they needed a singer, they turned to Birmingham-born Izaak, who runs the Engine Rooms rehearsal/venue space in Bow, where the trio would rehearse. Izaak had just broken up with his previous band and laid vocals over the first couple of songs they’d written, which became their first EP, and It’s Irrelevant was born.
On the sound they’ve crafted over the last couple of years, Chris told us: “Fast and catchy punk rock, with intricate/complex guitar work and drum grooves. Think Blink-182, meets Polyphia.”
Our latest taste of this is I’M VERY FEEL, which was released last month. It opens up with drawn-out guitar chords and a noodling little lick over rolling and building drums, which develops and then drops into an opening verse over a variety of funky guitar licks. That builds into a big singalong chorus “Let’s try this once more with feeling, We’re only trying to exorcise demons, Got a feeling that the world won’t pull its weight, I’ve been stealing every second we misplaced, Down not out and still breathing.”
Palm muted guitars and rolling drums bridge into a second verse led by Izaak’s engaging call-and-repsonse style vocals, flowing into another catchy chorus. The pace drops with a lone stabbing guitar that continues under high-pitched guitar and a cheeky little solo, before empassioned vocals tee up a final blast of the chorus.
On the track, Chris said: “The reception has been great, we’re excited that the song is finally out for people to enjoy. The song is oozing with fast punk riffs, hooks and catchy choruses with vocals that evoke a wave of angst and attitude. Before you know it, the song is over and you’ll want to play it back all over again.”
That follows on from the band’s EPs, Little Lives Pt. 1 and Pt.2, released in the last two years. The latter includes the excellent Fever, the more anthemic Broken that features a cool late key change, and the feisty final track Warpath, which brings the EP to a lively punky conclusion.
The It’s Irrelevant sound takes inspiration from pop-punk greats like Blink-182, Sum 41, Neck Deep, Four Year Strong. But they also draw on hip-hop and pop influences, while guitarist Hakaran is big into instrumental bands like Intervals and Animals As Leaders.
And on what inspires them to write music, Chris explains: “We’ve never had a particular message from our music. We like to write music that is fun, that sounds cool to us, inspired by bands and music that we love. You could say that our message is irrelevant, we want each song to speak for itself, and let the listener create the song’s personal meaning for themselves.”
It’s Irrelevant have gigs in London and Guildford coming up, including playing at HalloScreamFest in Guildford at the end of the month, for which tickets are here. They’re also working on new music that will hopefully be out before the end of the year, along with cool new ideas for next year.
You can follow It’s Irrelevant on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube.
GigRadar 