Upside Down Man – Looking Up

This debut album by Calgary’s Upside Down Man has me in a bit of a quandary, this is an age old question of mine and when I hear music that is touted as skate punk, for some reason, this is not what I’m expecting, as in Rock of the Bullet For My Valentine style, am I wrong?, have I got totally the wrong idea of what Skate Punk should be, I have Sum 41 or Good Riddance in mind, so when pure rock sounding bands hit the airwaves and out touted as this genre, I struggle to get that connection, please feel free to put me right or tell me I’m wrong at any point.

All that said what’s in a genre, this is only a way that we pigpen hole music to help us all decipher whether or not we might take a listen, so just actually forget all I’ve just said and get your ears around the latest album ‘Looking Up’ and make your own mind up, but in the mean time I’ll let you know what my thoughts were.

From the off ’20 Years (Too Late)’ hits you like a speeding bullet, the guitars are burning and the intricate solo’s are weaving at the same intense speed, but vocally you feel like your listening to Bad Religion but delivered at the same insane speed.  ‘Bitter End’ follows in the same vein, but then it not until you to to track eight ‘Count Backwards’ that the style and melodies change up, this is more like what I was expecting from the off, but then should I have tied them down to anything, this is the downfall of genre pinning as I said earlier.

The last couple of songs ‘String Me Along’ and ‘Proxy’ do revert back to what came pretty much throughout the album, but this is not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I personally was hoping for, great music and totally nailed in technique, lyrically sound, but is that just too perfectly played for this DIY punk lover.

If you’re a rock nut and you like it fast, furious, spectacularly played guitars that are on fire, and lyrics that you can decipher at your leisure, then go listen to this top of their game band and fucking enjoy. 

Out now via High End Denim Records

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