Damage Appreciation is a collection of four tracks that sees Midland punk rockers Max Raptor lay a foundation for their new album, to be released on Hassle Records, of whom they have recently signed to. This change in record label is the start of an exciting new journey for the band who last released an album, Mother’s Ruin, back in 2013. Max Raptor manage to mix the classic punk sound, that many fail to pull off these days, with a modern rock/pop vibe and well… it just works. It really does.
The opener to the EP is the title track. It’s loud. It’s in your face. It’s exactly what you want to start off a long-awaited EP. It’s also got this kind of ‘cheeky’ British kind of thing going on and we love it. The verses are lighter compared to what we would have expected but it just gives room for chorus to stand out in a different way. Almost reminiscent of some old indie bands, this song has us bouncing and singing along not too long after it starts.
So, it’s a strong start to the EP but, as always, are the other songs going to be able to compete with it? ‘Population’ is first up to compete with the opener and it does a good job of it. It shows the more aggressive nature of the band and yet still has that ‘fun’ factor to it like the opener. The drums on the album really help carry these songs along with an aggressive yet creative performance. The song is definitely a live song. It has an anthemic nature and we can definitely imagine a sweaty venue getting a bit crazy over it.
‘Blue On Red’ and ‘See Me Through’ are the two tracks that make up the second half of the EP and they follow the same high standard as the first half. Blue On Red is another anthem. It’s intense and really brings out that British ‘brunt’ that gives this band that extra edge. See Me Through is the final track and is a little bit different to the others. A bit more diverse than previous tracks, the band have tried a few new things out here and they’ve managed to pull it off. Heavy, sludgy guitar riffs into light verses and a poppy chorus; we love that they’ve tried to change things up and we love that it’s worked so well. There’s even a super clean section that shows off a less aggressive side to the vocals.
Damage Appreciation is pacey, aggressive, intense and just bags of fun. It’s only a four song sneak peak into the direction the band have chosen but if the new album sounds anything like this, we really can’t wait. Max Raptor bring the British attitude to the music scene and are here to bring back a new era of punk. These lads could be on the verge of something here if they keep this momentum going. Bravo.
