Block Parent – Sick Year Bro

One thing that has become apparent since the start of 2021 is that the bands and musicians on the punk scene have not been sat idle during the various stages of lockdown we have all endured. The steady drip of lockdown releases, quarantine sessions and remote recordings has become a tidal wave over recent months. Now we have Ontario’s Block Parent with their appropriately titled sixth full length, Sick Year, Bro, an album title that is open to interpretation, depending on how the last 12 months or so has passed for you.

The opening track, Sight For Pink Eyes, hits you with a raw and snotty blend of DIY, anarcho, hardcore and punk rock. At first listen the strident snare and constant bass rumble can feel jarring and unsettling, but if you let the album run I found that by the fourth track, Comeuppance Go Downance, I had tuned into Block Parents wavelength and things started to make sense. Underneath that hyperactive exterior there is melody to match the intensity, and, as the final track Stixville, Population 110,000, shows, there’s a sense of humour in there as well.

This will never be punk rock for the mainstream, Block Parent do not have a sound that can be tamed or polished, it’s just raw, scuzzy punk rock, there’s an immediate punch to the gut that’s coupled with an in your face attitude and a fuck you DIY attitude. If you love the raw manic charms of contemporaries such as Trashed Ambulance and Pizzatramp, or if you long for a return to the vintage skate punk of the 90’s, then this eleven track album’s hyperactive and chaotic blend of styles should hit the spot, Sick Year, Bro indeed.

You can stream and purchase Sick Year Bro on CD, cassette (via Glue Gun Records) and digital formats via Bandcamp