In the five years since Knocked Loose released their second album, A Different Shade Of Blue, they’ve gone viral on TikTok about a billion times, played to a packed-out tent at Coachella festival, been name-checked by Demi Lovato, and been watched from the side of the stage by a headbanging Billie Eilish.
So, with the mainstream rolling over to have their tummy tickled by the Oldham County, Kentucky hardcore crew, this is the moment where Knocked Loose embrace the pop world so enamoured with them, sand down all those rough edges, make a more melodic, palatable album and turn their back on the scene, right? Wrong.
There are lots of impressive aspects about You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. In a scene full of identikit grunters, Bryan Garris has a frankly bizarre high-pitched vocal, yet manages to achieve crystal-clear enunciation of his lyrics while simultaneously sounding like he’s being mauled by a grizzly bear. Drew Fulk’s production gives the record perfect definition while making it sound as loud as a jet plane taking off inside your cranium.
Then there are the odd little flights of fancy, such as on the Radiohead-esque opening of Take Me Home, that few other hardcore bands would have the ingenuity to attempt.
The most impressive thing about this album, though, is that, when faced with the opportunity to capitalise on being hot shit in the mainstream and maybe becoming the most unlikely pop stars in history, Knocked Loose have made the heaviest, most punishing and destructive album of their career. Highlights are plentiful. The frighteningly chaotic Suffocate, featuring guest vocals from Poppy, and the hellishly stabbing nightmare of Blinding Faith deserve a mention, but Knocked Loose really never miss here. The mainstream has no idea what’s about to hit it.
