Some days you may feel a bit slow. Some days you might be as sharp as a tack. But not today. You may have said it at least three times out loud before you realise; Bruise Control’– it’s a pun. Thankfully, even if you’re feeling slow, the band’s new self-titled EP is going to catch your attention.
Manchester is their home – it isn’t just where their heart is, it’s in their blood and it’s in their DNA. Bruise Control are defined by the city but on this EP, they’re also disappointed with it. That’s where the music finds its power.
Trace Bruise Control back to 2020 when they dropped their debut EP and you can draw a straight line to now. Listen back to those songs and yes, this is their sound; DIY Punk. It ticks all the boxes. It’s catchy, it has an edge, the lead vocals are growly and the guitars play melodic progressions enhanced by backing vocals. There’s nothing progressive or unusual about it and that means it has to tick the most important box; is it good?
Yes – the band receive a giant tick. After opening with a gentle strum and a howl of ‘yeah!’, it kicks off, feeling confident and so effortless. This is absolutely a band that is pushing their sound hard. You can hear it in the way lead single ‘Left Behind’ sweats melody, but it’s not the only one. All six songs are a wicked blend of momentum and hooks, either from the one-two punch of call-response vocals or the frantic licks Niall Griffin wrestles from his guitar. A highlight might be the devilish chord riff that opens ‘Gone To Ground’, which steps up, then back down, before changing to a discordant stab. But it’s the restless interplay between all four band members that makes it feel so electric. Notably, the noisier and grubbier ‘You’re Not Mine’ – alongside the grander ‘Jumping Ship’ – fall at the end, changing the approach slightly while still maintaining that energy, presenting it now in a different way.
For much of its history, the band was based at Brunswick Mill, a practice space in Manchester’s city centre. However, that period is over. The space is gone, sold to developers. That loss defines the EP and the songs strive to capture something about it. Perhaps not about the mill per se – a dilapidated, filthy place – but about gentrification, the inherent loss of community, the subsequent powerlessness in the face of money, the underfunding, and the one thing you cannot buy; a sense of belonging. Heck, it’s about the music industry. If you want to put forward a basic theory of genre, punk is defined by a sense of; ‘I love this community’ – and that’s the EP’s soul. There’s a definite sense of creeping change, and of disquiet, that the band channel into six truly great songs.
Bruise Control are not on autopilot. Passionate and powerful, this EP is catchier than fleas in a derelict practice space.
IAN KENWORTHY