Coming off a very successful year, especially at Gussapalooza, Cudbear finally put out their first full-length album: Purple.

When you first hear Cudbear, you would say they are a punk band. Soon, you will find out that they are so much more than that and that their sound has complex intricacies. They have a solid grasp of contrasting mood swings. They can turn on a dime and shift from a calm state into pure frustration. You can definitely hear that on the song, “Equilibrium”. It may sound nice and pop driven, but you soon learn it is all a rouse.

This album contains the anxiety-driven messages of today’s youth. You can hear these messages in songs like “Pills” and “Cycle Man.” I swear they were saying “Psycho Man” at first. I guess this title is slightly interchangeable because you can take this song either way. It does play with your fragile ego.

Not to worry too much, they know how to create that Arena Rock to spew your anxiety out with the heavy driven fist pumper, “Scallywag”. “The Game” is another monster of a song with its power punk vibe that screams into a high energy rocker. It slams you from all sides and the straightforward guitar solo is like a drill being pushed into your skull.

“Phantoms” is a slow burner with a warm atmospheric sense of being a babe in the lost woods. It becomes a transformational journey from a fearful metamorphic state of mind. “Burn in Hell” is a real gem as it creeps through your skin and produces enough discomfort to peel away your soul and let your true feelings loose, even it is for a few moments. Does the buzzing in my head bother you?

The overall feeling of this album is based on insecurity and inexperience but faces personal demons and looks for way to overcome them. This album contains all those dissident chords to charm the young angst of today’s youth with some great anthems to feel alive in our crumbling world. The feeling of horrific social isolation and unresolved feelings are not only addressed but they seem to give an outlet to the pressure of an unknown future.

Cudbear doesn’t try to be cute or cuddly. They are a force that is trying to scream their truth in a world that seems to have stopped caring about each other.

They want to bring together the younger generation with the older generation with our music. Cudbear wants to bring unity and celebration to a world where it’s become abnormal to express yourself.

You can find this album on their Bandcamp at: Music | CUDBEAR. It’s also available for streaming on Spotify.