Heart Attack Man – ‘Joyride the Pale Horse’

As the news cycle speeds between chaos and calamity, the only band that seems to be able to keep up with the creeping existential dread and keep a smile on their faces is Heart Attack Man. Always politically biting and brimming with humour that slices to the heart of millennial angst, they approach existence with lyrical verve and lashings of punk rock energy. ’Joyride The Pale Horse’ is exactly what you’d expect from an album that parodies the title of one of the main tenets of modern conspiracy theory culture – irreverent, furious, and full of a desire to tear something down.

The biggest change since their last outing, ‘Freak Of Nature’ is that somehow, against all the odds, Heart Attack Mann have become even more self-deprecating. “What if this is it and it’s over and everybody finds out that I’m a poser?” Eric Egan laments on opening salvo ‘One More Song’, his salute to imposter syndrome in all its forms. This externalised introspection drives so much of ‘Joyride the Pale Horse’, switching in and out with the dream of taking it all out on the world, the plan to “spit in the face of humanity” as the chorus to first single ‘Spit’ eloquently puts it. Of course, we associate the punk sound with a plan to smash it all up, but the way that Heart Attack Man seem to psychoanalyse why they want to start a revolution adds a layer of intelligence to their harsh pop punk. A strong backbone supports their boldness, both in terms of baseline and a resolute attitude, proven by thrashers like ‘End of My Gun’, which prevents their misery dragging us down and instead bolsters our own determination to smile grimly in the face of it all. 

On the flip side, they also love to skirt around an idea and play with all the ways they can describe a situation without necessarily hitting the nail on the head, and this quality is what makes Heart Attack Man so interesting. Sometimes they’re so painfully blunt, and sometimes they’re as opaque as a brick wall. Closer and title track ‘Joyride’ lyrically says everything you can about resigning yourself to death without explicitly saying it, and combined with the hazy, melancholy guitar, it makes for a surprisingly profound track. Death seems to be preoccupying the boys from New Jersey, whether it’s via thrashing their resistance to the concept on ‘Lay Down and Die’ or through Goldfinger-styled black humour on ‘Gallows’. But no matter the bleakness of their subject matter, they always approach it with a grin like rigour mortis, a deceptively upbeat tone that always prompts a second listen to lyrics that you’ve been singing aloud.

‘Laughing Without Smiling’ sums up what ‘Joyride the Pale Horse’ is all about. There’s a grim nineties fuzz beneath the surface, a daring attitude and a monotone vocal that erupts into a classic pop punk whine, all while tacking the reality of living in today’s world, joyless day jobs and all. We’re smiling and slamming along with their sarcasm and irony without laughing, but instead filled with respect for how they present their take on pop punk. “One of these days I might just answer the call of the void,” wails Egan on ‘Call Of The Void’, their pessimism always tempered with slamming drums and peppy hooks. 

The way that Heart Attack Man turn angst into dynamite is thrilling, and they don’t seem to be slowing, Each record, released in comparatively quick succession, follows the willing formula of eloquent emotional reaction laid over charming, radio-friendly shredding. As long as the world keeps providing fuel for the Heart Attack Man fire, they’ll keep filling their streams with smart, vicious punk, uplifting us through solidarity in awfulness, and long may they continue to do so.

KATE ALLVEY