With so many reasons to be angry, it’s hard to look on the bright side. Unless you’re brilliantly fun UK punks Gen And The Degenerates – then it’s all you can do…
What happens when boisterous, politically-charged punk rock meets a “chronic optimist”? You need only ask Genevieve Glynn-Reeves, lead vocalist of Gen And The Degenerates, who can’t help but look for the silver lining on every cloud that overshadows them.
“I’m really fucking anxious all the time,” they admit, having used songwriting as the vehicle to voice their current grief and past trauma. “But, despite all of this, I’m an eternal optimist. So it always comes with a positive spin or a sense of humour.”
The marriage of the two places Gen And The Degenerates in the spotlight as one of the UK’s most intriguing new bands. Their debut album, ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA, introduces itself with a burst of dancefloor-punk through opener Kids Wanna Dance, something of a mission statement for their artistry. Packed with that quintessential British idiomatic voice and exquisite production from Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, Amyl And The Sniffers), there are light shades of the tongue-in-cheek approach to punk that has seen IDLES and Wet Leg – two of Gen’s favourite bands – shoot to stardom.
Joined by guitarist Sean Healand-Sloan, the pair explain how the dynamic goes down between the five members of the band, split between Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.
“We found our voice through [the process] – all our previous output has been absolute chaos,” Gen reveals, quoting a feral occasion where Sean and guitarist Jacob Jones decided to lay down steel drums over a track, the second they left the studio. “Expect the unexpected, ’cause we don’t really know what we’re doing!”
Whether it’s collaborations with Scottish indie-punks Uninvited through TikTok trends, or laughing at the futility of doomscrolling in That’s Enough Internet For Today, the band’s playful take on real-world problems ultimately emanates from their friendship that dates back to university. As Sean says, “I can’t fathom bands who aren’t mates.”
The guitarist cites Fugazi, Pixies and Drive Like Jehu as their formative bands. Indeed, the album is flooded with these post-hardcore tones, alongside Gen’s bombastic vocals, drawing influence from Blondie and Amy Winehouse. Amongst all of this fun and noise, though, ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA ends on the delicate number Jude’s Song, a touching tribute to Gen’s late aunt, inspired by a sombre moment in the Portuguese mountains with their family.
“Grief is really hard,” they say. “But what are the odds? Out of the millions of people in human history, we got to be alive at the same time as my auntie Jude. It was a way to talk to her and celebrate her.”
This is the trait that makes Gen And The Degenerates so vital: turning heartache, and what feels like misery all around us, into a thing of beauty.
Gen And The Degenerates’ debut album ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA is out now via Marshall. This article originally appeared in the spring issue of the magazine.
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