Track by Track: STONE dissect their debut EP, ‘Punkadonk’
Indie rising stars STONE have enjoyed a year to remember so far. 2021 has seen them sell out shows across Britain, as well as support Yungblud and Inhaler on tour. Furthermore, this summer, the four-piece secured a deal with Polydor records and now released their debut EP, Punkadonk.
The group shared a series of singles prior to Punkadonk with their first track, ‘Leave It Out’, arriving in early 2020. Before they started life as STONE, the four-piece performed under the name of The Bohos but decided a change of name was necessary as they evolved and began their new chapter.
Over the last 12 months, they’ve made their name as one of the most exciting live bands on the circuit, and their EP is purpose-built to be performed in sold-out sweat-boxes. The record is a collection of songs which feel appropriate for these current dark times, especially the rebellious opener, ‘Money (Hope Ain’t Gone)’.
While the project is titled Punkadonk, STONE is not just another tiresome post-punk outfit, something they prove on the huge electronic tracks ‘Moto’ and ‘Disrupter’. The pair of songs are reminiscent of The Prodigy, albeit differentiated thanks to frontman Fin Power’s thick Scouse delivery.
Ahead of their exciting plans for 2023, STONE has taken the time to break down Punkadonk track-by-track in their own words for Far Out.
STONE break down Punkadonk:
‘Money (Hope Ain’t Gone)’
Punkadonk opens in emphatic style with the angst-filled ‘Money (Hope Ain’t Gone)’, a song which sets the tone for the raucous journey ahead. “Money is a very special song for the band as the song is not solely one person’s perspective,” the band explain. “The song was written by Fin (singer) and Elliot (guitarist) and this was the first song where they co-wrote the lyrics”.
The Liverpudlians continue: “The song shares both of their emotions and perspectives on the world today and the anxieties we face. The song is a statement of emotion about the state of this planet and how it feels growing up into adulthood in the current climate. Fin and Elliot come from very different lives, and the mix of their lyrics makes the song the force it is. The song showcases love, hate and hope for the future.
‘Waste’
‘Waste’ was initially dropped by the band this summer and gave fans the first taste of what to expect from the release, setting a high benchmark for the group to live up to. However, it’s a task they’ve risen to with aplomb on Punkadonk.
“‘Waste’ is a massive middle finger to people who judge you without knowing you. The whole point of the overconfident ‘you probably hate me’ is written about the fact that instead of being caught off guard by negative energy from people, it can often be easier to assume that people dislike you anyway. The chorus is about the lust for love and needing to be liked and how that can almost become dangerous to your mental health”.
The band added: “When I [Fin] wrote the middle eight, it was actually about a time where he was sat at a bar, and I felt so distorted in his own brain that life felt almost like a video game, like I was sat in the passenger seat of my own emotions. The vocals were done on one take each time so that the emotion was genuine running through the song, and so that the anger and breathlessness was real,” STONE poignantly note. “The music is meant to be slightly unsettling, like it’s an inevitable doom creeping upon your soul, and no matter what you do, you can’t shake the fear and the feelings that are about to unfold. We didn’t drown the song in effects and almost tuned the guitars slightly under tuned so that when raging on the guitars, they would bend more into tuning.”
‘Moto’
On ‘Moto’, STONE take a sharp left turn and show that there’s much more to their sound than first meets the eye. Yes, they are capable of making full-throttle bangers, but they also have an electronic side, and Power is capable of stepping into hip-hop delivery with his vocals.
Explaining the hilarious true story that inspired the track, the band reveal to Far Out: “Moto’ was written about when Fin kept losing his iPhone and eventually just went into Tesco and asked for the cheapest phone because he was sick of the fact he kept losing them and it was a Motorola. He eventually loved the Motorola and had the ringtone stuck in his head with a drum beat behind it. The song was then written about how he is the coolest guy with this Motorola phone.”
‘Radio Ready’
The penultimate track on Punkadonk is the infectious ball of energy, ‘Radio Ready’, which finds Power repeatedly screaming “fuck” at the state of the music industry, which continues to confuse the singer.
“‘Radio Ready’ is a track that looks inward, a sort of slapstick take on how music works these days,” STONE admit. “Fin had this idea for the chorus (‘Fuck, now it’s radio ready’), then the song came together really quickly in the rehearsal room off of the back of that. It’s a short burst of energy and profanity (with added irony that a track called radio ready has fuck in its chorus).”
‘Disrupter’
STONE bring their debut EP to a close with ‘Disrupter’, which is a fitting title for a band that is hellbent on tearing up the system. Furthermore, with this electronic anthem, the band show their refusal to be put in a specific box which is an admirable trait.
They explain: “‘Disrupter’ was a moment of madness where Fin was beatboxing the idea, and then within the hour, we had the whole track programmed in Alex and Fin’s home studio. We love how spontaneous that track is and think you can hear the rawness within that. Disrupter is a fun song about wanting to break down barriers, with the main line being ‘I’m not a hive mind, I’m a disrupter.'”
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