The New Normal: A Fiery Brace Of Tunes From Up And Coming Belfast Punks

SINGLE REVIEW | THE NEW NORMAL – OCD/BETTER DAYS by Craig Harston

Belfast’s The New Normal have been tearing up the punk rock scene over the past year, having the immense opportunity to tour with the likes Drug Church and Laura Jane Grace. Heading into 2025, they recently put out a brace of tunes right before the Christmas period – the edgy and old school ‘OCD’ and a straight up punk rock song in ‘Better Days’.

Main single ‘OCD’ delivers an old school rock sound, like something straight out of the ‘70s but with more than a dash of early ‘90s grunge energy. Drummer Neil kicks the song off before the meaty riff from bassist Carlin that remains present throughout the whole song is quickly joined by Paul’s guitar and singer Cathy’s sassy vocals. The song features profound lyrics about how our own heads are more often than not our own worst enemy and it gradually builds to a crescendo as Cathy is joined by some gruff back up vocals as the song barrels towards its end. It’s pretty relentless!

B-side ‘Better Days’ meanwhile evokes memories of the early 2000’s punk rock scene, particularly the sound found on California band Tsunami Bomb’s debut album ‘The Ultimate Escape’. It’s a fiery punk rock song, a straight up melodic hardcore banger that reminisces about simpler times and laments how we can’t go back (“Maybe I’m mad, maybe I lost my mind, can we rewind back to simpler times, the clock won’t stop, that’s just my luck, cos I’m too old to give a fuck”). Similar to ‘OCD’, the whole thing builds up as it goes along, culminating in a fantastic breakdown which leads into a “1, 2, 3, 4!” ahead of a truly face-melting guitar solo!

Both songs have already become love favourites for the band and with a promise of new music to come in 2025, The New Normal are absolutely one to watch in the new year. If this is the new normal, count me in!

‘OCD/Better Days’ is available to stream now on all streaming platforms.