Spite Never Tasted So Sweet in the Snarling Alt-Indie-Punk Static of ‘Licorice’ by 92Steps

With no interest in immaculate solos or the polished edges demanded by purists, 92Steps‘ lo-fi snarler Licorice tears through the pop-punk façade with a ragged confidence that sardonically smiles in the face of perfection. Produced in a Minneapolis flat, a family cabin, and a borrowed office space, Licorice is a product of unapologetic constraint—and it thrives in every rough-edged second. A single-person operation run by Riley Schindler, 92Steps makes it clear from the get-go that this is punk for the disillusioned, the spiritually wrecked, and the quietly gluttonous. Drawing from the same well of misanthropy that fuelled the ‘90s, Licorice strips the polish away from pop-punk, delivering a snarled, lo-fi anthem of pure infectious volition—but there’s plenty more to hold onto than scorn. Machiavellianly switching up vocal energy with deliberate abandon, the single doles out hooks with the sting of Fidlar and the songwriting stripes of The Offspring, forming a corrosively catchy callout aimed at a slick protagonist that’s easy to hate—probably because they’re hiding in everyone’s orbit. It’s not clean. It’s not clever. It’s not trying to be. What Licorice is, however, is a shot of caustic humour on the vein of alt-indie-punk’s increasingly self-serious skin. There’s real venom […] The post Spite Never Tasted So Sweet in the Snarling Alt-Indie-Punk Static of ‘Licorice’ by 92Steps appeared first on A&R Factory.

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With no interest in immaculate solos or the polished edges demanded by purists, 92Steps‘ lo-fi snarler Licorice tears through the pop-punk façade with a ragged confidence that sardonically smiles in the face of perfection. Produced in a Minneapolis flat, a family cabin, and a borrowed office space, Licorice is a product of unapologetic constraint—and it thrives in every rough-edged second. A single-person operation run by Riley Schindler, 92Steps makes it clear from the get-go that this is punk for the disillusioned, the spiritually wrecked, and the quietly gluttonous. Drawing from the same well of misanthropy that fuelled the ‘90s, Licorice strips the polish away from pop-punk, delivering a snarled, lo-fi anthem of pure infectious volition—but there’s plenty more to hold onto than scorn. Machiavellianly switching up vocal energy with deliberate abandon, the single doles out hooks with the sting of Fidlar and the songwriting stripes of The Offspring, forming a corrosively catchy callout aimed at a slick protagonist that’s easy to hate—probably because they’re hiding in everyone’s orbit. It’s not clean. It’s not clever. It’s not trying to be. What Licorice is, however, is a shot of caustic humour on the vein of alt-indie-punk’s increasingly self-serious skin. There’s real venom […]

The post Spite Never Tasted So Sweet in the Snarling Alt-Indie-Punk Static of ‘Licorice’ by 92Steps appeared first on A&R Factory.