Oh The Humanity!: Third and final single from melodic punks ahead of new album

SINGLE REVIEW | Oh The Humanity – Upper Riffspiratory Infection by Craig Harston

Massachusetts Oh The Humanity! Have been around for about 12 years now. Inspired by the likes of A Wilhelm Scream, Propagandhi and Strike Anywhere but delivering their own brand thrashy melodic punk, the band have travelled the world and performed at festivals such as The Fest, Camp Punksylvania and Pouzza Fest. In anticipation of their third album, ‘Ground To Dust’, Oh The Humanity! have dropped their third and final single, ‘Upper Riffspiratory Infection’, which might just be the best song title of all time!

Starting with a metal-ish intro, the song itself is a melodic hardcore banger, encompassing a perfect blend of crunchy guitar riffs, relentless drums, great vocals from singer Kevin Athas and is overlaid with plenty of gang vocals and a handful of woah’s thrown in for good measure! The song features profound lyrics all about wanting to embrace the present and face the future but struggling to shake off the past – as the band puts it “Dwelling on things long since forgotten by most but not you, and those old demons haunting your present”. The repeated line of “I can’t, I can’t forget” throughout the song hammers this point home and the bridge goes huge, featuring the words “Old wounds can re-open, when we stretch ourselves too thin” which rings all too true! The closing bars of ‘Upper Riffspiratory Infection’ ramp things up, with the tune seemingly getting faster as it hurtles towards it’s end with superfast guitars and drums!

‘Ground To Dust’ releases in January 2025 and based on this song and previous singles ‘Gutted’ and ‘Love Irresolute’, the whole album is going to scratch that shreddy, punky itch and is going to be a great way to start the new year in the punk rock scene!