New York-based duo Punt — Eli Frank (vocals, bass) and Bill Michel (drums) — can trace their origins back to the 2010s, when they were introduced by a mutual friend. And in a short time, the band burnt out: The pair set out to write and record their full-length debut, 2015’s Oil in a week. Soon after the album’s release, Frank and Michel went their separate ways.
During a sweltering New York Metropolitan Area summer back in 2015, the duo were drawn back together to write and record their long-awaited sophomore album, the aptly titled The Heat. Slated for a September 22, 2023 release through Trash Casual, the album reportedly drags listeners through New York’s grimy underbelly and explores the “random terrible thoughts” running through Frank’s brain. Sonically, the material sees the duo crafting a fuzzy and riff-driven salute to everything noir. (Or in my book — a decided hell-fucking-yes!)
The album’s latest single “I’m Bad” is swaggering, grungy and power chord-driven anthem built around fuzz distortion pedaled-bass, thunderous and propulsive drumming and a burst of 60s psych rock organ arpeggios paired with mosh pit friendly hooks and Frank’s howled delivery. But underneath the mosh pit friendly swagger, the song as Punk’s Eli Frank explains is “about not knowing how to get what you want, but you know you’re meant to be doing big shit. It probably won’t happen, but fuck it ‘cuz it’s all about the ride away. That ride into the pits of hell, baby.”
Directed by Chris Warner, the accompanying video for “I’m Bad” is shot in a noir-ish black and white, and follows the duo as they play the song in an abandoned, graffitied train track somewhere.
