Punch Drunk

Punch Drunk was formed in 2003 as a 3-piece pop punk band out of Cedartown, GA. Since their inception, they've toured the US 4 times over, playing just about anywhere there is to play. After an early stint promoting on the 2003 Warped Tour, the band recorded the critically acclaimed full-length album Pure, Unadulterated Hate is the Best Medicine. Touring from '04-06 in support was a completely DIY effort that put their album in thousands of people's hands. The band played every club, bar, legion hall, and living room with arena-rock like intensity and slowly but surely developed a devoted fanbase. In late 2004, their popularity hit a high point with a front page feature on Purevolume earning them hundreds of thousands of plays, and the record labels were knocking at the door. They released the internet single "Broken Halo Coalition" to widespread acclaim, and garnered a buzz previously unmatched for the band. Yet when success was seemingly right around the corner, the wear and tear of the music machine took it's toll on the band, and they went on a hiatus. But today is a new day, and Punch Drunk has jumped back in the saddle for June's Rainbow Radio EP. The 7 song release is an honest reflection of a punk band's ongoing evolution into a power pop machine. Both compliant and exceeding singer-guitarist Billy August's wishes of being "basically a 23rd century Cheap Trick", Rainbow appropriately paints a kaleidoscopic soundscape of lush synths, soaring pop vocals, and multi-colored harmonies over the primitive crashing and bashing of a really fucking loud rock band. Punch Drunk fearlessly ventures where the poser-pop bands fear to tread, with all the right hooks and not a trace of irony. The first single will be the cryptic "And I'll Evade the Rest", a virtual sampler plate of every trick in the Punch Drunk repertoire. "If you had to show somebody one song from us, 'Evade' would be the one," says August. "It's got a killer riff, an intense verse, crazy Spanish-sounding second verse, a really uplifting chorus, and a huge outro that nails in the whole song. It's basically our calling card." The complex production is furnished by August's arcane, mysterious lyrics. "I like writing in riddles," he confesses. "I'm writing about specific things but I like to disguise them. It's very cathartic to spill your guts without anyone figuring it out." What can be figured out is that Rainbow Radio is a classic in the making - a pure power-pop album that perfectly balances on that thin line that separates the banal pop from the gold, and it will be yours in June 2009.

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