Album Review: Interrobang!? – Self Titled

Interrobang!? were formed in 2012 by two former members of Chumbawamba, vocalist Dunstan Bruce and drummer Harry Hamer, who came together with Stephen Griffin, best known for his tenure as guitarist with Regular Fries, to complete the trio. The album is set for release on March 30th via All The Madmen Records and with their eponymous debut the band have delivered an album that finds Dunstan getting back to his anarchist post-punk roots after years in the well known awkward anarcho cabaret troupe. Now he finds himself dealing with middle age but still as pissed off as ever and with many things to say, but with Interrobang!? he has found a new and more direct way to channel his anger.

This is an album of classic post punk, the stark backing is overlaid by a deadpan vocal delivery in Dunstan’s broad Yorkshire tones, everything that follows in Interrobang!?‘s debut full length is experimental, defiant, earnest and carries the hallmarks of the best post punk releases with the fourteen tracks contained on this eponymous album all being short sharp post punk bursts with only the album’s finale, Am I Invisible Yet?, crossing the three minute barrier. But this isn’t a throwback to the dawn of the eighties, it’s all delivered with a very contemporary and personal style of a man who has sustained his anger at the world and has found things aren’t getting better, a position exemplified by the album’s stand out track Mad As Hell. 

Interrobang!? channel the post punk of Gang Of Four, The Fall and Wire, they combine this with moments that capture the stripped down power of the proto punk of The Sonics and The MC5 as well as a whole array of influences from Dr. Feelgood to MoMeansNo and Fugazi. Interrobang!? have delivered an album that captures the angst and anger of post punk, musically this is an album that returns to the roots of post punk, but the message from the album is one that is contemporary and reflects the mindset of many who’ve been rallying against the system for most of their lives, and maintain their defiance despite advancing years.

The debut album from Interrobang!? can be pre-ordered on physical formats here

Interrobang!? can be streamed via Apple Music here and Spotify here