The Interrupters

In The Wild

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ft. Alex Désert, Greg Lee, Tim Armstrong, Rhoda Dakar.
Genre: Ska Punk.
Released: 05/08/2022
Via Hellcat Records

Album Review: The Interrupters – In The Wild

LA Ska Punks The Interrupters are back with their new album ‘In The Wild’! This is the band’s highly anticipated successor to their widely successful 2018 release ‘Fight The Good Fight’ which saw the band reach new heights in a rapid timeframe. The band will be hoping for more of the same with this new release as they are about to embark on their largest European tour to date in just a few weeks. Here are my thought’s on The Interrupters’ ‘In The Wild’.

Kicking off the album is ‘Anything Was Better’, a narrative-driven track with a punky attitude! The song has a lot of energy and doesn’t stray from the style fans have come to love of The Interrupters. Going heavily into the ska feel is ‘As We Live’ which isn’t a surprise as it features Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and Rhoda Dakar! A song to get the entire crowd busting out their finest skanks. The utilisiastion of an overly tight snare gives off that authentic Ska feel. Both Tim and Rhoda add a lot of authenticity to the track as they lend their vocal abilities to the bouncy track.

Coming up next is ‘Raised By Wolves’, a standard poppy track that unfortunately doesn’t quite hit the same. The song feels a little bit lost amongst it all in this album and it doesn’t quite capture the band’s charm as well as you would hope. This feeling doesn’t last for long however as single ‘In The Mirror’ comes rocking in to save the day. Fans have already taken a shining to this track ever since it dropped back in April. The emotion-filled song has an addictive beat along with a powerful vocal performance from Aimee (Interrupter) Allen.

If you’re looking for a song to lose yourself in, ‘Kiss The Ground’ is the song for you. A chilled Reggae number that has an infectious rhythm that will have passers-by swaying along to its beat. A nice change of pace for the album that helps to show the band’s ability to change up styles on the fly. Speaking of which, ‘Jailbird’ dives head first into the Punk side of their sound. Fast, palm-muted riffs accompanied by sporadic fills and angst sounds like a winning recipe for a punk rock song and it’s worked wonders for The Interrupters here!

As the album progresses, fans are treated to a plethora of styles with tracks like ‘The Hard Way’, ‘Let ‘Em Go’ and ‘Worst For Me’ taking the safer approach of using their well-established blend of Ska Punk while the band take some risks with more adventurous songs such as ‘My Heart’ which adopts a more lyrical focus while slowing the record right down to drive home its message.

Bringing back the Reggae swing is ‘Burdens’. A syncopated dance track with powerful performances from Alex Desért and Greg Lee from Hepcat. This song wouldn’t have sounded out of place during the rise of Ska in the UK and maybe one of my personal favourite tracks from the record! Aimee has made her admiration for the band The Skints pretty well known over the years so for them to feature on the track ‘Love Never Dies’ must have been a special moment for the band. The Reggae-infused love song flows nicely and tacks your ears on a magical journey through your deepest emotions.

Everything must come to an end at some point so why not go out with a BANG! ‘Afterthought’ is a thank you letter to those who never believed in you and dragged you down. A surprisingly joyous sounding number to help the troubled forget about those who held them back for however long they did. Closing out the album is ‘Alien’ a very powerful track that zones in on the problem of not fitting in and not being sure about who you are or what you identify as. This is a shining example of a band using their platform to tackle a difficult issue in a way that many can adapt to their own situation to help ease any discomfort they are experiencing.

As a whole, ‘In The Wild’ is a very strong addition to the band’s discography and seems like a natural progression from their 2018 release ‘Fight The Good Fight’. You can clearly hear the band is progressing in the right direction as they are mastering their usual sound while also taking more chances at genres a little more out of their comfort zone. Why not check out some of these songs live when the band tours the UK with The Skints and The Barstool Preachers! (Tickets Available Here (Affiliate Link)!)