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    • Jan 11, 2022
    • 13 min read

2021 Wrapped by Moody | with Playlist

Screw your automated Spotify Wrapped for 2021! I’m here to share with you the 2021 Moody Wrapped, featuring the best of the best from the year of hell. As this is Moody Music, you’re guaranteed to dance and cry all from 1 playlist in the 2021 Moody Wrapped. Check out this blog post to source your favourite punks, emos and freaks that you want to take into 2022 with you. Start your year off right and wrapped in style.


In no particular order, I will be chatting about my favourite albums, eps and singles from the artists that have been constantly on repeat for me, and have made my 2021 a little less shitty.


Here’s the corresponding Playlist if you wanna listen along to my Moody tunes of 2021.


CLAY J GLADSTONE / Dead Friends (Deluxe Edition)

To kick things off, I want to start with a story about the band Clay J Gladstone. This Sydney band were originally meant to play at Knight & Day Festival in Ballarat Victoria on 2021-22 NYE, and I thought that to be cute I would wear my Clay J Gladstone T-Shirt on the way to the festival, cause I was really excited about finally seeing this band play. Unfortunately, some bands pulled out of K&D due to covid situations, and I saw the FB post about it while on my first train out of two for the day. My first thought was: “well, this is fucking awkward, as I sit here on a very public train wearing band merch from a band that JUST pulled out of the festival *slight panic*”. But hey, I know I don’t have much luck and still repped Clay J all the way to Ballarat.


So, that was my not-surprisingly unfortunate, hilarious tale of K&D fest!


Getting back to Clay J’s Dead Friends (Deluxe Edition) release during 2021, I had a chat to the band about the Dead Friends EP, before the Deluxe was even announced, You can read about it right here to suss out the band and release a little bit more.

U Here is absolutely beautiful, it’s an acoustic serenade! I love the chorus ‘we all need something to lean on / and god knows my legs are crumbling/ but your eyes give me stability / it’s all I need for now / is you here,’ it’s so pure and raw.


ULTIMATE FAVOURITE TRACKS:

Dead Friends, People Like You, and bonus track U Here.



BETWEEN YOU & ME / Armageddon

Between You & Me came in very risky with a late 2021 release, that I’m happy to say it’s an absolute banger! I wish I had it during all of 2021. Armageddon, has the same sort of upbeat pop-punk vibe as Neck Deep’s 2020 All Distortions Are Intentional album.


It’s a very repeat-friendly album to listen to all day.


ULTIMATE FAVOURITE TRACKS:

Please to Meet You, Deadbeat, Real World, and Armageddon.


I feel that Real World is a very underrated track on this album, despite it being incredibly relatable, ‘Maybe I should care about it one day / When I lose my god damn mind’. One thing that I say all the time is “oh well, that’s tomorrow’s problem”, there’s no point stressing over every single aspect of your life, enjoy your life every once in a while.


DRUID / The Beauty In The Decay

Druid was another band who I had interviewed during 2021, we had a chat about their album The Beauty In The Decay. This interview was particularly a huge stand out and highlight for me as a blogger/ interviewer.


On the day of this interview I personally was feeling so bummed out, unmotivated and crappy, maybe I even with a touch of imposter syndrome, I truly was just not feeling like interviewing that day. Lucky for me, my brain was like ‘it would be wildly unprofessional to cancel an interview!’, so thank you brain <3 because after chatting to and having a laugh with Druid it was such a great reminder as to why I do band interviews and of how much I do want to represent bands like this and help share their music. That interview definitely made my day, and probably made my week, and maybe even made my month.


Every time I hear the ravens in Exitus or during this album, it just makes me smile, cause I remember asking if there are ravens on this record?! And everyone, including me, just burst out laughing because it was such a random thing to ask about.


ULTIMATE FAVOURITES:

Exitus, DTHBLW, G.E.M.


MIRRORS / The Ego’s Weight

The Ego’s Weight is a monumental album, especially as a debut album by a bunch of boys from Gippsland. This is a humble band with so much to say and have no problem being heard by vocalist Patty’s loud vocals. I had a chat to bassiest Jake about their new album just before releasing it onto the world.


Mirrors also have just recently played Knight & Day fest over NYE in Ballarat, keep your eyes open on the Moody Music socials for a post coming soon.


ULTIMATE FAVOURITES:

Purple Static, Hereditary, For You

INTERVIEW MIRRORS - The Ego's Weight


STEPSON / Help Me, Help You

Help Me, Help You are one of the best finds I’ve come across in 2021. I’ve been dying to catch Stepson play live at that Stepson/ Bloom tour (please still be happening! What a perfect lineup!). This album is angry, and feels to be in a hurtful/ healing stage of life, for which makes it a very relatable piece of work. Stepson is a must on moody days. I’m also a huge fan of This Is How It Feels, from their 2016 EP Echoes in an Empty Room. You know that they’re a good band when you start going through their history.


ULTIMATE FAVOURITES:

Who Are We?, The Entire History of You, Say Something.


ARCHITECTS / For Those That Wish To Exist

Do you ever listen to Architects and think… damn Sam Carter’s voice is attractive? Nope, just me? Okay moving on! The cinematic value of For Those That Wish To Exist definitely was a standout album for 2021, hearing the involvement of strings (I know there’s some violin I can hear) adds a huge effect on the presence of this album, it sounds like a James Bond 007 soundtrack. The imagery of space is a perfect metaphor, because this album is out of this world!


ULTIMATE FAVOURITES:

Impermanence, Goliath, Black Lungs, and Dead Butterflies


IN VANITY / Identity EP

My chat with Ollie and Forest of In Vanity was one of the most purest and honest conversations I’ve had with a band. In Vanity aren’t scared to show their true colours and wear their hearts on their sleeves. This EP covered such heavy and important topics around mental illness, suicide, assault and homophobia to just name a few.


ULTIMATE FAVOURITE: Mariana


NAUTICAL MILE / Embers EP

Besides having visually sexy album art (C’mon it was bright red roses in a pile of ashes! It is deadly beautiful), the Embers EP felt like Nautical Mile were sitting on this release for such a long time and were dying to get it out to the world, and honestly it was worth the wait. It is fast, bouncy pop-punk with a mysterious undertone of poetic lyrics.


‘The heavy burden of this weight will bury me when I’m awake / So when I close my eyes/ It helps me drift away / inside of my own mind / as the light fades to grey’


This EP is a stunner!


ULTIMATE FAVOURITES: Purgatory and Suppression


THE LAST MARTYR / Purgatory EP

Continuing on with the Nautical Mile purgatory theme, I had to include The Last Martyr’s Purgatory EP in this Moody Wrapped. This EP I wanna say is a whole power move within itself, blending and extending the boundaries of their dark rock genre with spices of metal, posthardcore and a cherry of rap to top off the delicious sunday of TLM’s EP. I can’t emphasis this enough, you MUST listen to it from start to end for the full experience.


ULTIMATE FAVES:

Hindsight and Afterglow


COLOUR & SHADE / Hostile Grounds EP

Canvas is still one of the most favourite serenade tracks I’ve come across, it is just so beautiful and I know I’ve said it before, but somehow Colour & Shade have captured what glistening stars would sound like. The lyrics ‘Stay Forever / Stay inside my heart’, it’s incredible, that song deserves a chef’s kiss because it is perfecto! Mwah!


ULTIMATE FAVES:

Canvas and Equilibrium


WOLF & CHAIN / Amor Mortal EP

I’m really loving this theme of dramatic and intense love, and no band did that better in 2021 than the part emo- part vampire band of misfits from Adelaide. I had a chat with Wolf & Chain about their single Taste of Blood, and we also cracked some vampire myths for a laugh. Their EP Amor Mortal is a full production. This band are leading the movement in not just playing shows but to create on stage experiences for their fans. I would go see Wolf & Chain the musical. Unfortunately I haven’t been blessed to see this band play live… Yet! (Screw Covid!) but they are definitely on my MUST-SEE list in 2022.


The concept of eternal love is just so beautiful, but of course filled with so many dangerous and dramatic aspects, in W&C’s case you might end up in the middle of a vampire bar brawl! (Just kidding, or am I? Ooh conspiracies!)


I do have one confession to make… as I write this post I am in fact shamefully watching Vampire Diaries, it’s so bad that it’s good haha.


ULTIMATE FAVES: Taste of Blood, Far From Home, and An Unfortunate Tale of Two Lovers and an Insatiable Taste for Poison


SNARK / Pressure

One of my personal favourites (God I feel like I say that about all these bands *insert that cute face emoji with the big puppy dog eyes*) is Snarky Snark and their track Pressure. This trio had released two songs in 2021, and as much as I do love the bouncy and catchy chorus of Weightless (I am still waiting on the remix ‘The Dodgey Avenue’ by the way, inside jokes right there), I have so much love for Pressure.


This song was the first release after their 2020 EP Impostor, and I just feel it was such a perfect song to start a new chapter with for this band. I also get some nostalgic Kings of Leon Only By the Night vibes in some of the guitar solos, and the box TV imagery reminds me of Good Charlotte’s The Young and the Hopeless album art.


DRASTIC PARK / Lost

The dark side of Drastic Park is something I can definitely get on board with, and would want to see more of in the future. Even though their latest release is called Lost, Drastic Park are on an upward trajectory in the Australian music scene, this band is one to definitely keep an eye on. Lost reminds me of the band’s previous song 10 Years from their 2020 EP Imposter Syndrome.


I also want to mention Snakes & Ladders because I was so stoked the cover art was designed by a tattooist, can we please get more tattoo album art happening in the heavy scene.


WISHFUL THINKING / Destiny, Pt.1

I love how risky Wishful Thinking is with the release of their 6 minute Jesus of Suburbia style multi-part song, Destiny, Pt.1. It’s risky because it’s something different to wrap your ears around compared to what is currently being released, some people (especially radio) would be shocked to play a 6 minute song, but hey, to me every minute is worth it.


Destiny, Pt. 1 is extremely catchy, it feels quite light and fun but is underlined with an important message surrounding mental health. This song actually was perfectly released alongside RUOK? Day in September 2021.


I can’t wait for Pt. 2!


MOLLY AND THE KRELLS / Silver & Gold

Silver & Gold is without a doubt my favourite Molly And The Krells song so far. This track is exactly what we all needed during lockdown, the music video made me miss those simpler times of being able to hangout with friends and just be happy and have a laugh.


This song has the same sort of aura as Between You & Me’s Armageddon album or Ocean Grove’s single SUNNY, there’s a cheeky summer feel about Silver & Gold particularly with the lyrics ‘with my fake ID/ and the nearest BWS’. Molly And The Krells have created an ultimate bouncy track with memorable lyrics, ‘Fuck! Those who don’t agree’, the drop after the ‘fuck’ is my favourite part by the way, oh and you can’t forget the catchy chorus, ‘Ashes to Ashes/ lust to lust/ rose tinted glasses get the best of us’.


LUKE SEYMOUP / Knife

2021 on Moody Music was spiced up by the indie punk mind of Luke Seymoup and The Moup Group with 7 singles being released throughout 2021, Knife would be my favourite of the bunch, purely because it’s weird, quirky and slightly halloween-y. Luke is an artist who pours a lot of heart into his music, with the band’s upcoming album having its sights on representing the people coming from little towns. Let’s get local with Luke! (Album is set for early 2022 release)


ALL REGARDS / Where Were You

It’s still a shock at how great All Regards are every time they release new music, this band is so underrated. With only two singles under their belt, Where Were You and Trainwreck, this young band is destined for great things, their music is made of 100% quality and is always worth the wait for the next pop-punk/ alt rock tune they have hidden up their sleeves. All Regards, are very much true representatives of the Australian music scene, think of artists such as Jet or INXS. I would absolutely love if this band covered INXS’s Don’t Change, the nostalgia would be on modern point.


FRONTIER SEASON / Myriads

I truly believe this band should be on festival line-ups. Just image, 7 band members, a ton of instruments and a bunch of energizer bunnies (including screamo energizer bunnies), oh and some banter, you can’t forget the banter. Frontier Season are a band who combine melodic metalcore with impactful messages. Myriads is a fast paced, aurally upbeat, and a lyrically beautiful song,

‘Take my hand/ I won't let you drown/ Hold on tight, cause it's a long way down/ I'll guide you through the sea of voices now/ And bring you back to us/ To reclaim your crown’


THROUGH IT ALL / Peacekeeper

One of the earlier releases and an absolute diamond in the minefield of whatever the hell 2021 was, did people really panic buy toilet paper? Haha, like C’mon where did the sanity go?


Anyways back to music, Peace Keeper by NSW hardcore band Through It All kicked the year off with a loud, angry and slightly savage track. Through It All’s style is similar to Druid, In Vanity, and Stepson, it’s loud just like how we like it!


‘Break me down motherfucker, you make me sick!’ is my favourite line from this track, because it’s in your face. Just get all that repressed anger and let it go with Through It All, let’s restore peace together.


This is also a young band with two singles so far on their resume, I am very curious to see how 2022 treats this band, some touring and an EP would be an absolute dream.


EVERLYNE / Deranged

Okay these next two bands go a little bit hand in hand with each other, but how incredible would it be to have The Last Martyr, Future Static and Everlyne on a tour together. All bands are female fronted and all of the bands are powerful and loud in presence. Honestly I’ve been thinking about ‘power moves’ lately and a show/ tour like this would definitely qualify as an ultimate power move for these bands.


Everlyne is an underrated band that everyone should be adding to their playlists. These Melbournians are also very humble humans as I discovered during my interview with them about Deranged. They are great representatives of how artists should be in 2021 and beyond. Deranged is an incredibly strong song with multiple layers, harmoniously combining loud, fuller sections of the track with those slower parts that emphasize the lyrics. My favourite part of this song is still Mac whispering really intensely, ‘Do you wanna know why?’.


FUTURE STATIC / Waves

Moving on to Future Static, a band that has been on my radar for a little while now. I must say that after seeing this band perform on the Knight & Day stage over NYE, Future Static not only can play a show, but they create an experience. This band is born for the stage, a big stage more specifically!


(Keep your eyes open on Moody Music for a highlights post from Knight & Day Fest.)


I can’t predict the future, but seeing as how much attention Future Static’s song Waves has gotten over the past month and a bit (officially released late November), I think that Waves could be this band’s breakthrough track, and what they need to level up their musical careers, and they 100% deserve all of the love from fans and promoters. Future Static is not a band that you want to slip through the cracks, this is a band that should be on a trophy shelf with gold medals.


Okay one more band to go, drumroll please…..


AGAPANTHER / Last Legs

You know what, I am boss enough to admit this, I went through an Adelaide artist phase during 2021 (I kind of feel like doing it again, I currently have my eyes on Nocturnal Animals at the moment haha). I am actually so excited and surprised by the punk scene coming from Adelaide the past 12 months, including Agapanther and Wolf & Chain, like can someone buy me a plane ticket? I wanna hang out with some Radelaide musos!


I have so many favourite interviews from 2021, and my chat with Agapanther was one of them. I love their stories of how they became a band and where the name ‘Agapanther’ came from. The fact that one of their guitarists, Coen, joined the band just because he kept going to Agapanther gigs is a priceless Pro Tip for anyone who’s looking to join a band, and everytime I’m with someone and see agapanthus flowers I always tell them the story of that Adelaide band who got their name from mixing agapanthus flowers and their panther tattoos together.


I love Agapanther’s emotional punk/ alt sound, and I can’t wait for the day to be able to see them play live.


THAT WAS A VERY MOODY WRAP ON THE AWESOME MUSIC THAT MADE 2021 A LITTLE LESS SHITTY.


Also, Keep your eyes open for a highlights post of Knight & Day Festival

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MOODY MUSIC LINKS Linktree https://linktr.ee/moodymusicblog


Moody Music’s Mission: Aims to promote and support bands in the more heavier and rebellious genres of music in the pop-punk, rock and metal music scenes by sharing their music


About Jess: Hey I’m Jess, 23 from Melbourne, Australia. All I want to do is help promote and support some kickass music from the most rebellious music scene.


BAND BLOG ENQUIRIES: Hi please email me at jessicadeannej@gmail.com with ‘BAND SUBMISSION- your band name’ and attached your Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for considerations of reviews and interviews

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