Rejection – Bluedive (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It’s a classic tale. Three bored teens stuck at home (although the reason for their incarceration…Covid…is a new twist) listening to their favourite punk and emo records, thinking I wanna play music like that and I’ve got some things I wanna say, and voila! Bluedive, after a few twists and turns and the addition of a fourth member at least, was formed.

And following on from their excellent rush of energy and euphoria that was the eclectic and deftly delivered EP Bittersweet, they are back with a new single, Rejection. This track is a masterclass in anthemics. It has the lilt of an infectious pop-rock song, the grunt and groove of punk and the bitter-sweet qualities of the emo ethic. Put them all together and you get a song that ticks all the right boxes, especially if those boxes include ones marked “big” and “clever.”

Rejection employs that one thing that many of their punk peers seem to lose in that undignified rush to look cool and menacing. And that vital ingrediant is melody. So what if you can fire off sucker-punch salvos and you look great with your foot on the monitor, if you ain’t got the song, you ain’t got nothing.

Thankfully, with Rejection, Bluedive has definitely got the song. One that seems to be born of an industrial-strength, teen angst, unrequited love, doo-wop vibe run through gnarly pop-punk sonic antics before finally delivering a controlled punk sprint for the finish line.

And if this is an indication of what they can do, especially having already turned a few heads with their first EP, then it is clear that they are a band to watch. Get them out on the gig circuit, when lockdown and distancing allow, watch them hone their craft, learn their stage skills and ease into their full potential and they are certainly going to be contenders. Contenders for what, you may ask. Well, anything they damn well set their sights on, if you ask me.