#soundcheck: introducing empire! new punk rock out of england. shit yeah!

If you missed The Divine Secret (and why did you? They kick ass…), lead singer Joe Green just unleashed his new project: Empire! (yes, the exclamation point is part of the name. Why not?) The quintet’s been hard at work on their debut EP, and just leaked the first track; the appropriately named “All the Rage.”
It’s a twisting punk rock tune that owes a bit to At the Drive-in. The guitar skips and leaps as if it’s trying to outrun Joe Green’s almost operatic howl. If by the time the song breaks into the beautiful bridge without losing an inch of intensity you’re not converted to a full-on Empire! fan, you might want to check and make sure you’re listening to the right song. It’s the one that sounds pretty much exactly like this:

There’s been no definite date on the EP’s release, so stay tuned. But it should be soon. We hope. Please?

– Words by Nathan Leigh