Review of the Monsters mini-album from Ukmusicsearch

Title track, Monsters, for instance hammers along with an energy and enthusiasm that's infectious, dropping adrenaline fuelled guitar explosions and heavily melodic vocals with regularity. Malcolm Frost sings in a style that comes across like Graham Coxon crossed with Dave Grohl, all awkward sounding verses that erupt into choruses which drop kick you in the face. All She Said Was Now, is more punk energy and hardcore melodicism that finds the middle ground between Rival Schools and Blur as discordant guitar lines are spat out over messy bass rumblings and piledriving drumbeats. With Punk Soul, the band step up the pace into a hardcore punk thrash that heads into Bad Brains or Minor Threat territory that's all brutal drum patterns, scorching guitar abuse and growling vocals. As if to prove some kind of diversity, Wanted It To End, is all about the indie guitar riffs and catchy melodies. Coming on like a hardcore version of Belle And Sebastian, this shows Penny Red as a band that can do pop with an equal ease to their heavier moments, a tactic they repeat on Say You Will a slice of melodic rock that Oasis would kill to be able to write these days. End Song, is the sound of Graham Coxon forming a Replacements tribute band and recording in his basement on cheap equipment. Jangly infectious guitar riffs keep things moving while the downbeat vocals add a new level of depth and maturity to their sound. Monsters is a definite case of energy and enthusiasm over slickness and polish, which comes as a welcome relief to a lot of the overproduced blandness in the music scene at the moment. This has the feel of classic indie rock to it, when bands were more about the songs and the energy than just looking to radio friendly chart fodder. Penny Red have a sound that owes as much to classic indie bands like Teenage Fanclub, Urusei Yatsura and Mega City 4 as they do to their heavier side in The Wildhearts, Rival Schools and Minor Threat. While Monsters has a few shaky moments of weakness, its a mini album that on the whole bodes very well for Penny Red as a promising new band.

Review of the Monsters mini-album from Sohostrut

I love this band‘s energetic indie rock feel. They boast punky vocals and a hard dual guitar sound which works brilliantly. The opener of their demo, Dead beat, steals the show with a new wavish feel and those guitars going for it with style. Other songs such as Monsters and All She Said Was Now continue the feel. Punk Soul sums up the mood. Wanted It To End seems to me to have a Wedding Present vibe - which is excellent. Say You Will has a catchy guitar part and vocal. End Song closes with a nice attack of spiky guitar and vocal adding a dark mood. Is this the spirit of 77 back in all its glory..

Review of the Monsters mini-album from Losing Today

And while the Exports may be waving the flag for the Buzzcocks up in the North down South, more precisely on the streets of the Suffolk / Essex borders, its safe to say that those celebrated moments from the Diggle / Shelley songbook (just fast forward to the jarring riffadelic homage of the Teenage Fanclub like ‘Monsters’) haven’t been lost either on four young upstarts collectively known as Penny Red. Scarcely a few months down the road from the last time they were featured in these pages (‘Say you will’ demo in Missive 39 to be precise) and how they’ve honed and matured that vibe of 77 / 78 into something reassuringly formidable. ‘Monsters’ like the aforementioned ‘Say you will’ demo is production wise stripped to the bare bones and that kids is what makes this release such a must hear event, gritty, and rough there’s no studio manipulation this is after all, one would guess, a live warts ‘n’ all one take session and with that the spirit, energy and anger is captured, bottled and waiting for you to release the cap and let all hell break loose and yet by choosing that DIY approach the added ingredient of honesty comes into play. This demo features 7 searing cuts of up and at you street punk, with ‘Say you will’ from the last EP proving to be one of the main attractions given that its the slowest, slinkiest and most melodically treated of the Penny Red canon, still sounds to these ears like a pub meets early Stiff punk ditty with some pretty smart touches of Dr Feelgood, Tom Robinson and the Faces floating in the equation. ‘All she said was now’ calls to mind the fusion of the combined effect garnered by the polar extremes of both the Turbines and the Vaselines which let’s face you don’t come across to often so when you do you know its gonna be special. ‘Wanted it to End’ is cut with the kind of power punk pop coda that you’d rightly expect to set alight the radio valves if it was let loose amid the more sympathetic deejay culture while those still doubting the credentials of Penny Red at this point ought to check out the choking foot stomper ‘Dead Beat’. Armed to the teeth with a vicious snarl and a pyrotechnic personality this shit kicking killer is a direct descendent of the much overlooked Chron Gen and could almost claim to be the half brother of Hertfordshire’s finest classic row ‘Outlaw’, all in all its barbed, brutal and ballistic stuff and well worthy of the admission fee alone. Deserving a place in any well ordered record collection

Review of the Monsters mini-album from Full-Frontal Recordings

I was waiting for this promo to come through and when I first played it I must admit I did have my doubts but by the second play I was pretty much impressed with this Indie Rock band from Suffolk. It kicks off with ´Dead Beat´ a lively little number and it just a great sound all the way through tracks such as ´Monsters´, ´Punk Soul´ and ´Say You Will´. 7 tracks in all and ... I´d love to see these guys live and with a bit more time in the studio. For a fair comparison I´d say ´The Wildhearts´ crossed with ´3 Colours Red´ with a more punky feel to their sound which makes a bloody change from all those wannabe ´Greenday´ and ´OP Ivy´ bands I get sent.(Self Financed) 8/10

Live review from the Hope and Anchor in Islington, 7th Dec 2004

Penny Red step in tonite, in place of Axis. The four piece from Ipswich give a good account of themselves, blasting out a fast and furious rock set - kind of turbo charged indie rock with a punkish, devil may care delivery. Dual guitars ensure their sound is very full, and some interesting arrangements add depth. All in all a crazy mash up of styles and bags of energy, and their front man reminds us of Justin from the Darkness!

Demo review from Losing Today

Penny Red ‘Say you will’ (Demo). Most releases that come by our way these days are perfectly produced, there are so many gimmicks and gadgets that the most amazing gloss can be credited to something worked in a bedroom environment. And maybe its because of that exact reason that when we heard this we fell over ourselves with joy because this four track debut demo is, how can we put it mildly, as rough as a bear’s arse. Frankly we weren’t really expecting it, but then that’s the charm of it, so undeniably DIY and yet couched in that whole 77 / 78 era where the whole aesthetic seemed to be developed as the key players learnt from their mistakes, a time where there were no rule books the fundamental criteria being having the passion, ambition and belief to succeed. Penny Red are that era’s offspring and okay this EP is flawed with odd moments that have you scratching your chin and thinking ‘impetuous youth’ but then its that gritty warts ‘n’ all showmanship that makes it so appealing. Upholding the spirit of punk from their Suffolk / Essex borders these tracks were recorded as a live demo in Chelmsford and capture perfectly the bands energetic aggression. Opening with ‘Say you will’ itself a turning back of the clock to those late nights spent watching rock’s aristocracy being upstaged on the OGWT, its probably the sets most casually laid back cut that digs deep into that early pub rock groove that would spawn Dr Feelgood, although here we think references to Tom Robinson are probably more apt. ‘Bully Boy Tactics’ ups the ante considerably, cockney terrace punk rock that has one foot in the boot camp of early pre ‘Hersham Boys’ Sham 69, you know the good stuff before the fascist come along and pissed on the everyone’s parade, while the other foot is busy pogoing itself sick to the sounds of a primal sounding Buzzcocks fronted by Steve Diggle, the only ingredient missing being the additional harmonies which you feel would do wonders on this. Likewise the ‘Cocks influence is all to apparent on ‘Stupid’ but it’s the crunching ‘Falling’ where the band hit the road running a racing punk pop nugget that perfectly hooks up to that New York scene of the era to recall a loosened up Television. All in all a nifty little rough and ready rocker it has to be said.

Live review from the Drum and Monkey in Ipswich, 9th Aug 2003

After waking up with a terrible hangover, spending 7 hours at work then watching a piss poor game of football I needed to rock and rock I did. Arriving at the Drum and monkey at 7.30pm 30 minutes before the time the doors of opening we knew we'd be welcome. Malcolm the lead singer of Penny Red was already there and on seeing us, let us in and the beer drinking began. An hour or so later the support took the stage and I'll be honest I wasn't looking forward to them at all. The Forgotten Sound are a four piece consisting of 3 15 year old boys and a 15 year old female vocalist. Malcolm had told me they were good but I' m an old man at heart (well 21 but you know what I mean) and I was concerned. However, I have to say my worries were put to rest within minutes these kids could play and the singer has a great voice. They played their own songs as well as many covers of songs by the likes of Skunk Ananise and Guns and Roses to name a few. The covers weren't bad but I believe their owns songs were what impressed. If they keep this up they may become one of the best bands around our area at the moment. Penny Red next then and they did not disappoint. Fast, hard rock with that punk edge much like The Wildhearts, 3 Colours Red and The Almighty. Which I think works so well live. This is the second time I've seen them now and the second time they've proven they can cut it live. Only one thing disappointed me about this gig. As with so many of gigs I've been to in Ipswich the place wasn't very packed at. This didn't seem to bother the band they seemed to enjoy themselves as did those of us who made the effort to come along. Then again the hot weather didn't help and by god it was hot I must have lost a few stone that night I tell ya. The week before They played their hometown of Colchester, a gig I had to miss but I heard it was really bessy and they went down a storm. So if the folk of Colchester make the effort why don't they in Ipswich because it's Ipswich's loss...it really is.

Thanks to Unnatural Exposure Fanzine for the review.

Live review from Penny Red's first ever live show at The Steamboat in Ipswich, 18th April 2003

we must also give big props to locals PENNY RED cuz not only was this their first show but also their drummer had been in a car crash and done his back in but still they played, hastily rigging up a drum machine to fill his shoes. They were OK too, all things considered, did two sets cuz they only have like 20 minutes worth of tunes right now, kinda bit indie, bit punky, they did 'Teenage Kicks' and basically showed that other bunch right up for being the lame-o's they seem to be. So hats off to PENNY RED.

Link to original review. Thanks to Real Overdose Fanzine for the review.

Demo review from Gods of Music

When Penny Red cuts loose, they’re a band to watch.