GRENADE JUMPER
THEY ARE Sydney’s latest searing and summery answer to the pop-punk revival that’s rippling through the world like the blue hair dye through our curls. They’d be a shoo-in on a label like Hopeless for sure, but they also revel in a strain of originality the genre has been starving for.
THEY SOUND LIKE the secret USB of early b-sides that Pete Wentz left lying around after a trip to Frankie’s. It’s hard to sit still when you pop on one of the quartet’s three-minute bursts of kinetic calamity; they’re unforgivingly upbeat and brutally bouncy, Max Jacobson and Bianca Davino (the latter also belting those stunningly spry vocals) trading riffs with more body-jerking energy than a year’s supply of Red Bull could dole you.
YOU’LL DIG THEM IF YOU LIKE All Time Low, State Champs and the first couple of Fall Out Boy records – or, if you’re abiding by some weird personal rule where you can only listen to Australian pop-punk bands, then Between You & Me, Eat Your Heart Out and Stand Atlantic. Honestly, the three of them and Grenade Jumper would make for one heck of a tour lineup. Can someone at Destroy All Lines jump on that, please?
YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT the new single “Heat Wave”, which is fittingly titled since it’s an absolute scorcher of a tune. It’s only the third track in their slowly blooming discography, yet it flaunts the kind of radiant spirit that most bands spend years trying to capture. Davino says the track is about “empowering yourself to understand the beauty in all aspects of life” and that the band “aimed to channel that drive and brightness in the instrumental.” We’ll consider both points as missions accomplished!