Album Review: Fresh - 'Raise Hell'
Working hard and refining the details in the middle of a global pandemic, the “sometimes sad, sometimes happy, always hungry” group Fresh are adding hell-raising to their rota.
Following the release of the 2021 EP The Summer I Got Good At Guitar, the band have stepped things up even further with another record of the freshest punk anthems; something that comes all too naturally to them.
There has been teasing of this release since the close of 2021 with the release of the leading single ‘Morgan & Joanne’, which is also the sophomore track found on Raise Hell. It is that sweet summer sound that fans have grown accustomed to. Nostalgic yet brand new - familiar but unfamiliar at the same time, as it feels rejuvenating. It feels freely experimental but a natural continuation from what the previous EP gave the world. They have proven to never stop working when on a roll, and the progression is something to be desired.
Things slow down a bit and the sound becomes acoustic for ‘Sleepover’. While starting audibly somber, it’s a track that talks about finding the good in a brand new day after dealing with the worst in the past. After the bridge, the vocals become stronger, happier, more hopeful as the feeing of waking up “wise and new” and feeling the sun “on my cheeks”. It’s the open optimism that many forget but many more surprise themselves with in life; it comes as unexpectedly as within a new morning, and that’s a message to keep in mind.
Fresh are making sure you wake up with a new sense of life and being - don’t ignore the message.
Raise Hell is a variety of a record, as it slows down and speeds up. It doesn’t let the listener settle with one aesthetic or another, and that’s how it should be. After ‘Sleepover’ mellows the mood, it picks up once again to resume its golden-sunset-over-the-beach punk with tracks such as ‘We All Know (Blondie)’. Fresh specialise in making these summer alt hits, and releasing an album right in the swing of summer is the most perfect timing any band could hope for or work towards.
Punk will always be the soundtrack of hot evenings and shimmery skies, and there is no changing minds or denying facts.
Raise Hell is the continuation from The Summer I Got Good At Guitar that everyone, even the outfit, could have hoped for and to bring it to the masses a year after the latter is a testament to their work ethic as musicians and as a collective. It’s something to admire and something that hopefully continues throughout their time in the music industry.
Put your arms in the air, it’s time to Raise Hell.
Words by Jo Cosgrove
