Energy is a name you might want to remember in the coming months. Fresh from a major support slot for horror punks Creeper, the Boston five-piece have been pedalling their infectious punk rock across the land, winning hearts, minds and, more importantly, their own headline tour in the process.
But who are Energy? Well, for one, they have a lead singer called Tank. Tank. Secondly, their back catalogue is a perfect storm of earnest emo, post-hardcore and pop-inflected punk which references everything from AFI to Brand New to Funeral For A Friend to Fall Out Boy in its sound.
With their first UK headline tour underway, we felt the best way for the band to introduce themselves was by inviting them to give us a quick spin through their already relatively extensive back catalogue. Tuck into your track-by-track beginners’ guide to Energy, by Energy, to find out more.
Keep The Change (from Lost & Found: Demos And Rarities [2006-2014], 2015)
Tank: “This was instantly my favourite song off Punch The Clock when I heard it back for the first time, because it sounded like something I could still be singing 10 years later… and I am.”
I Killed Your Boyfriend (from Children Of The Night EP, 2011)
Tank: “Children Of The Night was a side project between myself and former Energy keyboard player Mike Rendini. This was one of the songs that he wrote for this side project back in 2006. The song has remained an Energy fan favourite over the years, so we decided to re-record it the way we play it live for our new EP. Also, the original 2006 COTN material is where the seeds were planted for the horror themed music we’d eventually go on to release.”
Hail The Size Of Grapes (from Invasions Of The Mind, 2008)
Tank: “This was the first song that I recorded with our long-time producer Chris Curran. It’s also the first song where I feel that I really made a conscious shift into a more mature direction lyrically; where I started taking a look at what scares me and not so much about missing my past.”
400 (from Invasions Of The Mind, 2008)
Tank: “400 was the last song that we wrote for Invasions Of The Mind, and it ended up becoming the most popular song on the record. It also, without a shadow of a doubt, eclipsed anything we had done in the past. That was a big deal for me personally, because it meant that even after so many lineup changes in just our first year as a band, my voice was the glue that kept the sound of Energy together.”
Dead In Dreamland (from Apparition Sound, 2016)
Tank: “Dead In Dreamland was the first song that I ever wrote entirely on my own. It was my attempt at a Michale Graves-style Misfits song, inspired by a surreal dream that I had the night before. It is arguably our most popular song.”
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Another Yesterday (from Apparition Sound, 2016)
Tank: “When someone asks me what my music sounds like, I usually show them this song first because I see it to objectively be our best song. It’s a pop song about nostalgia written to a simple chord progression with just the right melodies sewn across a punk backdrop. Another Yesterday embodies everything that I was trying to achieve up until that point with the band.”
New Worlds Of Fear (from Apparition Sound, 2016)
Tank: “This is the point where I consciously decided to start incorporating some of my hard rock/metal influences into the band’s sound. It was also the first time where I wrote from an angry perspective towards religion. Most of my songs that touched on religion in the past were more along the lines of sadness about my loss of faith, wanting to believe, etc. While the title New Worlds Of Fear means entering the next phase of existence – a life without religion – it also references a new era of the band that began in 2012 where I began writing everything for the band.”
They (from Apparition Sound, 2016)
Tank: “They is one of those songs that just came out of me. I was in a really dark place emotionally, but I had someone who I love very dearly by my side through it all. After playing it live only a handful of times, it became clear that this was our new set closer. I’ve only seen the climactic ending of this song with the dramatic scream and guitar solo leaving audiences screaming. It really added a dynamic to our set list that did not exist previously. This song can be sung to an empty bar on an acoustic guitar, or to an arena of people. It was built that way intentionally.”
The Witching Hour (from Under The Mask EP, 2017)
Tank: “The Witching Hour was the first song that I wrote in its entirety for our Under The Mask EP. I wanted to write a true horror punk song that wasn’t as upbeat and poppy as I Killed Your Boyfriend or Dead In Dreamland. I really think this song has helped us fill in that middle ground that might make people wonder why some of our songs sound dark and heavy, while others sound like pop punk songs. This song immediately felt like it had been in our catalogue the entire time we had been a band, because of just how much I think we realised our horror punk sound on this track.”
Under The Mask (from Under The Mask EP, 2017)
Tank: “By far the furthest I’ve gone in the hard rock/metal direction, Under The Mask seems to be going over fairly well. It’s a little early to tell, but it seems like one of, if not the most popular track on the new EP. I grew up listening to bands like Black Sabbath, Danzig, Samhain, Metallica, etc, and have tested the waters of heaviness already with songs like New Worlds Of Fear and The Shadowlands, so it was only natural for me to push it a little further this time. I think people want a heavy song like this from us every once in a while.”
Energy’s new EP, Under The Mask, is available now via Shadowland Productions. Catch them on tour at the dates below:
31 Jul: The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, UK
01 Aug: Audio, Glasgow, UK
02 Aug: Jumping Jacks, Newcastle, UK
03 Aug: Bootleg Social, Blackpool, UK
04 Aug: Key Club, Leeds, UK
05 Aug: The Maze, Nottingham, UK
06 Aug: Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes, UK
07 Aug: The Anvil, Bournemouth, UK
08 Aug: The Booking Hall, Dover, UK
09 Aug: O2 Islington2, London, UK
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