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KNUCKLE PUCK’s debut album Copacetic resonates with fans as much today as it did upon its first release. By 2015, KNUCKLE PUCK had several EPs and a burgeoning fanbase under their belt, yet their debut saw them rocket to prominence in pop-punk and emo circles alike. Ten years since its release and its emotional core still strikes as true today.
The group, made up of Joe Taylor, Nick Casasanto, Kevin Maida, Ryan Rumchaks and John Siorek, took to Always Be Genius recording studio from February to April of 2015 to record their debut album. They were keen to approach their sound from a variety of angles. In an interview with Alt Corner, they reflect “Negative emotions such as depression and anxiety are often, at times romanticized in our genre of music. We didn’t want to do that. By naming the album Copacetic, it gave the songs an underlying theme of optimism rather than a profound sense of hopelessness.”
In an interview with The Alternative, the band reflected on Copacetic in the context of the release of their third album 20/20, remarking “That record came out to be a little more… in your feelings. And Shapeshifter was a little bit more frustrated; we didn’t even know what we really wanted to do with that record, we were trying to find ourselves.”
Yet, it is exactly this messiness of self-discovery that has resonated with fans for the last decade. Pulling influence from emo bands such as AMERICAN FOOTBALL and MINERAL, Copacetic was always as vulnerable as it was poetic, particularly on tracks like Untitled, finding a balance in their sound that spoke to the profound impact of the very emotion it takes its title from.
The album was released on July 31st 2015 through Rise Records and was received well. Singles Disdain, True Contrite and Pretense were released to streaming over the summer building a buzz for the release, whilst KNUCKLE PUCK had already played the Warped Tour that summer and teased single Disdain to fans. Following the album’s release the band toured Europe supporting STATE CHAMPS, and embarked on their own headline US tour in the following autumn. Heading into 2016, Copacetic would find the band on their own UK headline tour, as well as supporting pop-punk giants such as THE WONDER YEARS.
The album also made it to various end of the year lists, being heralded for its significance amongst the releases of the mid 2010’s. Rock Sound (issue no 208) placed Copacetic at number nine on its top 50 releases of 2015, meanwhile Cleveland ranked lead single Disdain at number 87 on their 100 Greatest Pop Punk Songs Of All Time. Copacetic was also nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2016 Alternative Press Awards.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the band released a remixed and remastered version of the album. Explaining the process to Rock Sound, lead singer Joe Taylor said “we ran out of time or our engineer to mix because we kept tracking and fixing stuff. So by the time we were done that was just how the record sounded.” The desire to remix and remaster came out of a desire to “boost it up a little bit and have it sound a little bit better but not like change the heart of the recordings.” Along-side the release of Copacetic (Remixed/Remastered), KNUCKLE PUCK played several shows where they performed the album in full. This included both dates of Slam Dunk Festival in the UK.
KNUCKLE PUCK had steadily been growing their fanbase prior to 2015, but the release of Copacetic cemented their stature amongst pop-punk and emo fans alike. A snapshot of a defiant drive to work through the messiness of emotions with your head held high, Copacetic remains as poignant today as it did 10 years ago.
Copacetic was originally released on July 31st, 2015 via Rise Records.
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The post HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Copacetic – Knuckle Puck appeared first on Distorted Sound Magazine.
