Album Review: Punka – Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?

At first glance it would seem Punka have made a bold move and named their latest full length after the words that signified the demise of the Sex Pistols, but is that what Hastings punk power trio Punka have done with their sophomore album? “Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?” was a phrase that was uttered by Johnny Rotten at the Winterland Ballroom over forty years ago, but it is also a perfect slogan for the current political climate in the UK, and I suspect that is the reason for it’s choice, rather than being a reference to punk’s past. “Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?” follows up on the band’s two previous releases,  the “Cashball” EP and their debut album album “Angry All The Time“. The album will be released tomorrow and it’s one that signifies that Punka are set to launch themselves, and One Step Outside Records, into 2020.

The opening track ‘Even Angrier This Time‘ leaves you in no doubt that Punka have stepped things up a gear and that this is a voice of protest and dissent, one that is backed up by a soundtrack the resembles the kind of full tilt excess that the likes of The Exploited, GBH and Snuff deliver, everything is, as Lemmy once famously put it, louder than everything else. There is no subtlety, everything is loud, fast and angry. I can only make the presumption this is exactly how Punka sound live, “Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?” has a distinctly raw and frantic feel to it, something that gives you the impression that this was recorded in one take, or at least as fewer takes as possible. This is Punka, this is an in your face no fucks given soundtrack to dissent and disillusionment, it’s ten short raw discordant tracks condensed into 24 minutes, in short this is punk rock.

“Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?” can be pre-ordered via One Step Outside Records here

Punka can be found on Facebook and Bandcamp