It was messy-it still is messy-with accusations and legal actions broadcasted on social media. Ben Salmonīetween the time I opened a Google Doc for this list and the final save and send to my editors, Every Time I Die broke up. It is a joyous, genderless, post-nihilist, anti-punk, razor-focused take on creating the most intense listener experience possible.” With ULTRAPOP, they’ve done exactly that. It is an open rebellion against the culture of expectation in ‘heavy’ music. When The Armed announced ULTRAPOP last winter, de facto leader Dan Greene was quoted as saying the album “seeks, in earnest, to create a truly new listener experience. What’s most impressive is the way this band brings together different, disparate styles in a way that sounds seamless and natural and new, even if others have done it before. What’s most impressive about ULTRAPOP is not necessarily the killer riffs, the pummeling rhythms or the plentiful melodies, though all of those are consistently thrilling. Here’s what we do know: Whoever is pulling strings and pushing boundaries for The Armed is doing a hell of a job. They’ll cite made-up names and untrustworthy interviews, falsified press releases and photos featuring models standing in for whoever’s behind such an uncommonly catchy and charismatic strain of hardcore punk. “It was written by four self-taught musicians who are all just trying to get by and have a good time.” -Scott RussellĮverything you read about The Armed’s latest album ULTRAPOP will mention the mysterious nature of the Detroit-based band’s true lineup. “This album is just us-raw self expression, defiant energy, unapologetic vulnerability,” Taylor said in a statement. The result is ferocious, melodic punk rock that seems to push in every direction at once, but the band’s explosive energy belies a surprising degree of heart: “I’m not looking for trouble / I’m looking for love,” Taylor sings on “Security,” somehow managing to maintain a pocket of serenity in the eye of the band’s chaotic storm. Amy Taylor and company co-produced Comfort to Me with Dan Luscombe, writing their new record during Australian Bushfire season, not to mention COVID-19 quarantine. Melbourne, Australia punk quartet Amyl and The Sniffers came back with a barn burner of a sophomore album, the follow-up to their 2019 self-titled debut. Listen to Paste ’s Best Punk Albums of 2021 playlist on Spotify here. With honorable mentions to Mentira, Lysol, Thirdface, Downhaul and One Step Closer -and a few other records that could’ve made the cut-here are the 20 best punk albums of 2021. How you define “punk” is up to you the list below leans toward inclusivity, with murky post-punk, pop songs played fast and muscle-bound hardcore all coexisting together. Music rules, and the past two years have been the perfect time to let punk rock permeate your life. The novelty of wearing sweatpants to work has worn off, and the news is an unrelenting firehose of discouraging bullshit, and screens are our rulers, and when do we get to feel the warmth of normal human connection again? But hey … at least there’s music. They called it 2021, but it really felt like an extension of 2020, didn’t it? Everything feels like one big blob now, where things are bad and good and in between, and the lines that separate them are starting to blur.
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