Four piece horror themed punk band Won't Stay Dead from Chicago, Illinois formed in 2017. After independently releasing two five-track EP's The Devil Was With Us (2017) and Hellion (2020) they headed to Million Yen Studios to record their magnum opus... this thirteen track full length album Purgatory.
Won't Stay Dead, to me, are pure 90s pop punk nostalgia. The dual female vocals from Violet and Saffron, who also play guitar and bass, remind me of early 90s punk/ska band Dance Hall Crashers but these guys have that spooky twist. Won't Stay Dead's line up is completed by Tyler on guitar and Angelo on drums. Their vocal and musical style is fun, lively, catchy and really solid pop punk. The opening track "Window Shopper" is a cracking song to start with. The prominent bass line pings through with effortless style as the vocal harmonies kick in.
Being in the Chicago punk scene for over ten years previously Violet and Saffron were in political punk band When Flying Feels Like Falling and have now swapped the political angst for lyrics fuelled by macabre nightmares, serial killers and horror movies spanning the decades. "Pray You Never Need To Call Us" and "Sink Your Teeth" are inspired by, and contain samples from, The Lost Boys (1987) and Ginger Snaps (2000) plus a couple of other great movie references. Stand out tracks for me are "Window Shopper", "Purify", "Dead Lungs" and "Sink Your Teeth" to name a few. Purgatory flows really well and there is not one track I would skip past to get to the next. It stays within the pop punk range throughout but elements change as it progresses, some songs slow down a little and are very harmony driven and some get a little heavier and edgier but one thing they are not lacking is a great dark and creepy undertone.
Purgatory is well recorded and really nicely mixed making it sound as professional as any signed band out there. The artwork by Abby Hart is awesome and depicts the band in a comic book, retro psychobilly style with a trippy black and white pattern in the background that continues onto the disc itself which you will find when you purchase the physical CD format. It really draws the eye.
For fans of great 90s ska/punk and appreciators of effective and dark horror content definitely check out Purgatory, after that, check out their previous releases on Bandcamp. Keep an eye on Won't Stay Dead as they will be releasing more material next year!
