Loser “All The Rage”

The fact that Loser’s latest release “All The Rage” is partly a product of vocalist/lyricist Tim Maxwell suffering a breakdown in the studio may make it the perfect album for now. As we have all suffered in our own way during the pandemic, an album built on hard and fast nostalgic rock with a fresh edge, may be just what we all need.

The album opens up pretty ferociously with the harsh modern punk of “Head First”. On tracks like that and “Skyward” the band manage to blend a quite hardcore sound but whilst retaining an element of ‘pop’ or at least strong melody. It’s a sound which has us recalling Jawbreaker or Fake Problems. Loser therefore join a relatively small group of punk bands that are really capable of pulling that combination off.

What we really like about this album is that the band aren’t afraid to show their melodic side. There’s an almost psychedelic sound with “On The Edge” which together with “Time Won’t Wait” suggests the band may have at least been influenced by the Britpop of Oasis. Indeed, the album hits one of its many highs with the brilliantly anthemic “Don’t Leave Me” and “Upside Down”. These are songs which are surely built for festivals and arenas and could easily have been done by an unsung (in the UK at least) but absolutely classic Aussie band called You Am I.

The great songs just continue with tracks like “Stall” and “So” which are more examples of the bands brilliant knack of perfectly combining punk energy, big rock chords and melodies. Then, just to show it’s not just all about powerful, drink along, rockers, they wind it all up with the more laid-back rock of “Meant To Be”.

Maybe it’s the sunny Australian climate, but bands like Loser and King Cannons before them just seem brilliant at creating songs that are powerful and yet still just as likely to have you swaying and singing along. It results in a brilliant modern rock album….something that is seemingly becoming increasingly rare.