Mastodawn

Leatherface – Peel Sessions LP (Little Rocket Records)

If you’ve spent any time at all browsing Thoughts Words Action, you know that my respect for the Sunderland scene begins and ends with one name: Leatherface. There are bands that play punk rock, and then there are bands that are punk rock, with that sound like they were forged in a shipyard and tempered in a pub at 2 AM. When we talk about the history of the UK melodic punk rock underground, these guys are a foundational pillar. So, when the opportunity arises to talk about the Peel Sessions LP, we are talking about a time capsule. We are talking about the collision of one of the greatest melodic punk bands to ever walk the earth and the undisputed gatekeeper of musical counter-culture, the legendary John Peel. This LP captures three distinct sessions recorded at the BBC Maida Vale Studios during the 90s, and let me tell you, it is a haunting, beautiful, and ferocious document of a band at the absolute peak of their powers. There is something mystical about the BBC Maida Vale studios. For those who aren’t familiar with the history, being invited by John Peel to record a session wasn’t just an ordinary gig. It meant your music had something, a spark, that bypassed the mainstream filters. For a band from Sunderland, entering those hallowed halls must have felt like a surreal pivot from the local clubs to the heart of the musical establishment, yet the beauty of Leatherface is that they never sounded like they were trying to fit in.

The sound captured on these sessions is something that simply cannot be replicated in a modern home studio. It has that chiselled in stone quality. It’s raw, live, and carries that specific BBC air, a combination of world-class equipment and a get-it-done haste that forced bands to play with a level of intensity they might not find in a pampered, months-long recording session. On this LP, you can practically hear the ghosts of the studio walls vibrating along with the amplifiers. Leatherface has always been defined by a very specific duality. On one hand, you have the sheer abrasiveness. The guitars on this LP carry that texture. They are thick, distorted, and heavy, carrying the weight of the industrial North. But then, there’s the melody. This isn’t the sweet pop-punk melody, but a weathered and triumphant melodic sensibility that feels well deserved. Throughout these three sessions, you can hear the band’s evolution, yet the core remains untouched. The guitar work is legendary for a reason. It’s complex, incorporating intricate leads around driving power chords, creating a loud and sophisticated wall of sound. These sessions highlight those guitar works perfectly. The live-to-tape nature of the Peel recordings means there is nowhere to hide. Every note of those cascading riffs is laid bare, and the band sounds tighter than a clenched fist.

The rhythm section provides the essential heartbeat. The bass is warm and prominent, providing a melodic counterpoint to the guitars rather than just following them, while the drumming is a relentless engine. It’s propulsive, dragging the listener through the heady days of radio at breakneck speed. If you are a fan of melodic punk rock, you know that the Leatherface vocal style is the gold standard. It is soulful, gravelly, and drenched in a poetic working-class melancholy. Hearing these performances in the context of a Peel Session adds a layer of closeness. There is a sincere, sandpaper-rough quality, rarely heard on the punk rock scene nowadays. On these recordings, the emotional weight of the lyricism shines through. Leatherface were always a poetic band, but never in a pretentious way. Their stories are about life, loss, and the struggle to remain human in a world that wants to grind you down. In the vacuum of the Maida Vale studios, away from the distractions of a standard studio production, that sincerity is amplified to the max. You can hear the strain, the passion, and the genuine belief in every word. It’s a soulful performance that reminds you why this band has influenced so many renowned bands that still play today. The Peel Sessions LP is an epic sonic voyage through the early career of a band that refused to compromise. By spanning different sessions across the ’90s, the record allows us to hear their growth, yet the Leatherface sound is so distinct that it remains a cohesive experience from scratch to finish.

John Peel had a gift for picking artists and bands who were timeless, and listening to this LP decades later, it’s clear he was right about these Sunderland legends. This music doesn’t sound dated. It doesn’t belong to a specific trend of the 90s. It sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday or forty years ago. It is musical stone, as I like to say. For those who grew up huddled around a radio, waiting for the crackle of a Peel Session to debut a new favourite band, this LP will have such a big value, while the younger fans will find an essential listen that explains why Leatherface were such a legendary melodic punk rock band. It shows how you can be melodic without being soft, and how you can be aggressive without being mindless. If you call yourself a punk rock fan and you don’t own a Leatherface record, you have a hole in your soul that needs filling, and if you want to hear them at their most unfiltered, the Peel Sessions LP is the way to do it. It captures their tremendous energy, the incredible musicianship, and the soulful grit of a band that John Peel himself recognized as something truly special. This is a mandatory purchase for the collectors, dreamers, and punk rockers in basement bands who want to know how it’s actually done. Leatherface in the 90s was a force of nature, and thanks to Mr Peel and the BBC, that storm has been preserved for all of us to experience. Sunderland’s finest have never sounded more vital. This is melodic punk rock in its purest, most honest form. Don’t let this one pass you by. Head to Little Rocket Records for more information about ordering this gem.

#LEATHERFACE #LITTLEROCKETRECORDS #melodicPunkRock #MUSIC #PUNKROCK #REVIEWS

Thoughts Words Action Jan 1

Roach Squad – Roach Squad LP (Little Rocket Records)

If you’ve spent any significant amount of time digging through the crates or scouring the digital archives of Thoughts Words Action, you know that there is a very specific subgenre of melodic punk rock that hits you squarely in the chest. It’s that grit-under-the-fingernails, gravel-in-the-throat sound that flourished in the nineties and early 2000s, often dubbed “orgcore” by the internet pundits, but known to the rest of us as just damn good songwriting. Today, I’m diving into the self-titled LP from Roach Squad, an international collective of a long-lost brotherhood finally finding its way home. When you see the DNA involved here, veterans from legendary outfits like Leatherface, The Sainte Catherines, and The Murderburgers, you already know the bar is set incredibly high. But let’s be clear, this isn’t a supergroup vanity project, but a classic sound wrapped in modern production without losing original fire. The production captures the rawness of a basement show in Sunderland or Montreal, but also a clarity that modern technology allows. This record carries those abrasive, sandpaper-textured properties of nineties melodic punk, but it’s polished just enough to let the intricacies of the performances shine through.

The guitar work on this record is, frankly, spectacular. We’re talking about a duality hard to find in modern bands. On one hand, you have these heavy, crushing chord progressions that provide a thick wall of sound, the stuff that makes you want to lean into the monitor at a show. On the other hand, there’s an incredible sense of melody. The themes, melodies, and harmonies are catchy, weaving in and out of the aggression. It reminds me of the best moments of the UK melodic scene mixed with that frantic, North American energy. And speaking of storytelling, the lyricism here is top-tier. This isn’t your standard pizza and skateboards punk rock. There is a poetic, sincere, and deeply emotional core to these songs. It feels like reading a well-worn diary of someone who has seen the world, suffered the bruises, and lived to write about it. It’s storytelling in its purest form, set to a tempo that refuses to let you sit still. You can’t talk about this album without mentioning the vocal performance. It is, in a word, soulful. There is a gravelly, passionate delivery here that instantly brings to mind the greats of the genre. It’s the voice that sounds like it’s been cured in cigarette smoke and late-night tour van conversations, yet it remains incredibly vulnerable. You can hear the sincerity in every rasp and every elongated note. It’s a performance that doesn’t hide behind effects, it stands front and center, demanding that you listen to the weight of the words.

The basslines are a particular highlight for me. They have this warm, analog growl that adds a massive amount of depth to the compositions. Instead of just following the guitars, the bass provides a groovy, melodic counterpoint that makes the songs feel full. It’s that classic orgcore warmth, thick enough to feel in your ears but agile enough to keep the pace. The drumming is equally impressive. It’s propulsive and powerful, acting as the engine that pushes these songs into new heights. There’s a technicality there that stays hidden behind the sheer force of the performance, it’s busy when it needs to be, but always serves the song first. When the band hits those high-energy peaks, the percussion makes the hair on your arms stand up. Roach Squad captures some of my favorite melodic punk rock elements: aggression, melody, and heart. It’s an album that will immediately resonate with fans of the gruff-voiced, emotional punk rock that came out of the Little Rocket Records, No Idea Records, or Jade Tree eras, but it doesn’t feel like a nostalgia trip. It feels more like a band taking the lessons learned from decades on the road and distilling them into twelve or so tracks of pure, undiluted punk rock gold.

Whether you call it melodic punk, emo-adjacent, or orgcore, the labels don’t really matter when the songs are this strong. This is music for the long drives, the late nights, and the moments when you need punk rock music that can still be sophisticated and poetic without losing its edge. It’s rare to find a record that feels this cohesive, especially with an international lineup, but the chemistry here is undeniable. It’s a must-listen for anyone who misses the days when melodic punk had some dirt on its face and something heavy on its mind. Roach Squad LP is a raw, melodic, and deeply moving record. If you’ve ever found yourself shouting along to a chorus in a crowded room with a beer in your hand and a lump in your throat, this is the record you’ve been waiting for. Don’t sleep on this one, it’s easily one of the most vital melodic punk releases of 2025. Roach Squad has the soul of the global underground. Grab a copy, crank the volume, and let these songs do what they were meant to do: break your heart and put it back together again. Head to Little Rocket Records for more information about ordering.

#EMO #LITTLEROCKETRECORDS #melodicPunkRock #MUSIC #ORGCORE #PUNKROCK #REVIEWS #ROACHSQUAD