Photo Credit: Brandon Lung
Even though their current single is entitled “Shh!”, it might be difficult to keep Stand Atlantic a secret from the world for much longer, as the promising young mixed gender pop-punk band from Sydney, Australia is already getting many people to stand and take notice. “A whirlwind is the only way I can describe it,” lead singer and rhythm guitarist Bonnie Fraser said in a recent interview with AllPunkedUp. “We’ve barely had time to even sit back and take everything in… [W]e definitely are completely in awe of where things have gone in a short time.”
As they should be: in that relatively short time Stand Atlantic have released a smattering of singles, three EPs, and a full-length album. They’ve also toured extensively (including opening slots for The Maine, New Found Glory, Cute Is What We Aim For and Neck Deep) and found time to shoot a half-dozen music videos (all currently viewable on YouTube). They’ve even gone through a name-switch: Fraser and bassist Dave Potter originally formed as the band ‘What It’s Worth’ in 2012 with guitarist Arthur Taak and drummer Jordan Jasons. By the end of the following year they’d posted a handful of tracks online as well as putting out their first EP, Catalyst. A line-up change occurred (which included Potter switching from bass to lead guitar) that ultimately brought the band to its current roster of Fraser, Potter, bassist Miki Rich and drummer Jonno Panichi.
In 2018 Stand Atlantic signed to California-based indie label Hopeless Records – whose artist list also includes seminal pop-punk acts like Sum 41 and New Found Glory – and released their debut album, Skinny Dipping. The British music website Dead Press! called the album “the sound of a band hitting all of the height that they’re aiming to,”adding that it “places them right at the top of the list of pop-punk bands to get excited about.” Still, the album is not simply standard pop-punk which just happens to feature a female lead vocalist, as it offers up a number of unexpected surprises including the heartfelt acoustic ballad “Toothpick.”
More people will be discovering Stand Atlantic through their live performance. At least that remains the plan: according to the band’s official website, thirty North American dates scheduled to begin in late June are still in effect. Stand Atlantic is then slated to spend September of this year touring Europe, including France, Germany and Poland. But even if these shows don’t go on as originally booked (many are predicting that there will be no live music at all in certain major areas until 2021) it’s a safe bet that Stand Atlantic will persevere.
The graphic which accompanies the band’s two current tracks (“Drink to Drown” and the aforementioned “Shh!”) is a bit eerie in regards to timing: A face with no visible features, which intentionally or not might reflect the current health situation which requires ordinary people to wear masks in public. Luckily, Stand Atlantic doesn’t seem to be dealing with any sort of identity crisis. “We know who we are and what we want,” Fraser stated during that same AllPunkedUp interview. [We’re] always going to make something genuine.”
Leave a Reply