The whole feeling of imadethismistake’s record, Bow and Quiver, can only be described as triumphant. Triumphant, in that it is both victorious and powerful sounding, but also incorporates spoken word poetry within punk music in a most original way so that it hits the listener like a  wave of fresh air.

The opening track, “New York,” is a bluesy opening, accompanied by a steady drumbeat and the kind of offbeat poetry that could have only come from such a city. The song projects the image of slow moving traffic in an insomniac city riddled with lights and the troubles of people. Feeling the sweat rolling off your back in a hot summer night whilst you gaze from your cracked window frame, devoid of sleep and waiting, as Kylewilliam Campol, the vocalist, suggests, “I think it’s about time you go home.”

Track four, “Rogue Island,” has all the potential to be the standout of the album. Campol’s vocals and lyrics flow seamlessly, fluidly, a worded beat poem speaking rebellion. An uprising. sounding as the speaking voice for a generation of change, where things for the oppressed are starting to look up and look up fast.

“Let the poor move into upscale neighborhoods, and let the trannies and tramps run for office in every state!”

Track eight, “Winter in New Bedford,” incorporates a hopeful energy with the gentle tinkling of piano, similar to that of a lullaby. With the hum of the bass framing this, it sounds ominous as the lyrics descend into describing a kind of blizzard setting chaos.

“Wake up kid, there’s no outside. 24 inches of pearly white.”

The closing tracks, a two part saga dubbed “The Grimmerie,” start with spacious, echoing note plucking, along with a melancholy guitar. This tense melody falls into a giant drum strike, signifying the beginning of this beautiful closing. Campol, declaring that he isn’t afraid of anything, lulls us into a definitive belief of such a thing because of the sheer confidence in his tone. The second half of the whole, “Go Ahead, Ascend”, starts with an African-esque drumbeat until a gentle acoustic intrudes to create a largely different atmosphere, which reviews all the visions of the past tracks of the album.

“When the lights go out, our eyes adjust to the darkness that consumes the walls of this house.”

That same gentle piano strikes up again, and the sensitivity of the ending track is almost tear-jerking. It is when the collective choir of human voices starts, one truly realizes the unity of this album. The emotional relevance, plucking at heartstrings is a serious understatement.

Each track speaks of something. Something different, something poignant, open to interpretation. Within the thrashing sea of drums, guitar, bass, this chorus of sounds, lies the truth of the lyric, which seems almost the most important when it comes to judging this album. And the lyric, no matter how simple, is strides above the rest.

This is not mindless punk music. This isn’t a beer bottle over the head or a cracked rib in a mosh pit. This is the beating heart of adrenaline. This is searching for the singular belonging in the world. Searching for self.

Each song comes streaming in as a powerful statement, each one a spoken protest against or for a whole collection of subjects – love, pain, convention. The angst-ridden guitar along with the occasional yelling harmonies evoke the feeling of fist pumping adrenaline into the listener, making them truly determined to fight, and to really rebel against something. This album, no matter how far-fetched it may sound, could be the staple to give rising hope for those bored of the soulless automatons of even the independent industry. Why? Because it owns its own identity. imadethismistake is not only a band sure of what it believes in, but it is a band that has a growing potential to change the face of punk in the long run. Enough of the violent anarchy. What about the anarchy that brings people together as a whole? To be an us, for once, instead of a them. This, I believe, is what imadethismistake is attempting to define.

Whether that is fact or not, that’s what it means to me. As a person, an observer and an absorber of the feelings portrayed.