No Fun At All
Seventh Wave
SBAM
Released: October 14, 2022
Sweden’s punk rock troupe No Fun At All are back with a new record, Seventh Wave, through SBAM records (Dusty Wax in Canada).
There’s always that added level of excitement and anticipation when I band you’ve loved for a good long time is about to drop new music, and that most certainly has been the case leading up to this new record. For a quick minute, the album was delayed over some sort of incident that took place over something messing about with gear on stage, but that seemingly was resolved and left in the past – thankfully. As such, No Fun At All finally release their seventh album, aptly titled Seventh Wave, which feels like a play on the number of releases they’ve crafted and a knock on this pandemic which seems not to have realized that it has over stayed it’s welcome.
I personally consider 2018’s Grit to be one of the greatest – if not the greatest punk rock album of the last decade. I was fascinated with it and probably listened to it on an almost daily basis, and still do reach for it on a fairly consistently. Everything about it is wonderful and although I really liked it when it was a fresh release, it continued to grow on me throughout the year and went from being an album I really enjoyed to a work I adore from start to finish. So, when the follow up was announced, let’s just say I had very high hopes for what was to come.
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The short is that Seventh Wave is good. Very good. However, it isn’t the follow-up I thought would come after the sensational Grit album. I suppose I’m at two minds on that statement. On one hand, I would have been over the moon had No Fun At All delivered a record in the exact same vein as Grit, and on the other, it’s nice to have something that ventures into familiar country as their earlier albums but with the flare they’ve found in recent times. To say a punk band has matured is a weird statement to make, especially when I reflect on myself and my friends and see that we’re really not all that different than we were in the heyday of the skate punk days. Older, always sore, and a lot fatter but the attitude and mentality hasn’t really changed all that much. Maturity of sound, I suppose, isn’t the same as growing old and dull.
A full decade passed between the release of 2018’s Grit and 2008’s Low Rider, and during that time away, something happened. Something changed. The results of that are present on both Grit and Seventh Wave. It is seriously uncommon for a band to return from a lengthy hiatus and come back better than ever. It almost never happens – but that is the case with No Fun At All.
With lyrical inspiration coming from the common modern well of the pandemic and its effects on the human psyche, the human condition, and the struggles of remote life living on a farm in the Swedish country side (I’d trade my woes for those, truth be told). Vocalist Ingemar Jansson has always found ways to wax poetically about relatable topics and his voice has always been the driving point of the band. His melodic passages and thoughts solidify the strengths of the group; the earworm melodies and up-tempo drum beats. Sometimes fusing a like 80s rock riffing into to their mid-90s skate punk sound, No Fun At All are have always been good, but seem to have really found their path in their later years.
The guitar harmonies on Wonderland are typical No Fun At All fare, which is to say their usual fantastic song writing and execution. On Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, the pace drops slightly and the boys get into a more rock groove, with guitar riffs that momentarily summon thoughts of modern day Social Distortion – that blues meets rock style harmony that they do so well.
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Balancing crafting a timely review and giving this record time to mature ultimately clash and can’t work together. At the moment, Seventh Wave strikes me as a good, solid slab of melodic punk rock. One for all the 90s skaters out there with busted knees and shattered dreams. As of this moment, however, it doesn’t surpass Grit in my eyes – but then again, nothing does. It time, that could well change. And if not, I’ll still have Grit to fall back on… and Seventh Wave. Win-win, baby!
Your copy of Seventh Wave awaits you at the SBAM shop, or if you’re in Canada, through Dusty Wax. Despite what the name will have you believe, this absolutely is a fun record. Must be one of those tongue in cheek things the cool kids talk about.
For Fans Of: Pegboy, Pennywise, No Use For A Name
Track Listing:
01. Tear Me Down
02. Every Single Screen
03. See The Splender
04. It’s Not A Problem
05. Smart You Out
06. Wonderland
07. Dead And Gone
08. Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
09. Time For Devotion
10. Heart And Soul
11. Shine
12. Future Days, Future Nights
