Bonnie Fraser, lead singer of Australian pop-punk band Stand Atlantic, has redefined the standards for pop-punk with the band’s most recent album, “Pink Elephant.” The new experimental sound displayed throughout the album borrows elements from other genres and blends them together with the standard pop-punk sound to create something phenomenal.
Stand Atlantic
The pop-punk scene rarely likes to change its sound. This leaves for cookie-cutter bands that overproduce the same sounds over and over.
There is a fair share of women in the pop-punk scene, but most of them do not get the recognition they deserve. Most women in the scene are drowned out due to blatant sexism, but few are fortunate enough to have a big break.
Take Stand Atlantic, an Australian-based pop-punk band, for example. Front-woman Bonnie Fraser’s powerful voice carries the band over the sexist and misogynistic ways of the pop-punk scene. The band’s music was primarily pop-punk until their recent album “Pink Elephant” changed the game.
“Pink Elephant ” is made up of a purely experimental sound, something that is foreign to the pop-punk culture. The thing about pop-punk music is that it is straight to the point with little room for diversity. Stand Atlantic destroys that norm and redefines pop-punk music to be more varied.
The album is still primarily pop-punk, but it also takes elements from other genres and mashes them together to get this new experimental sound. One of the most common elements thrown into the songs are electronic editing techniques that transform the otherwise bland song into something with more dimensions.
The song “Silk & Satin” stands out the most to me. Fraser’s voice is light and smooth throughout the first verse and chorus of the song.
As the second verse breaks into the chorus, Fraser’s voice becomes more strained and brings back that comforting pop-punk sound. Paired with the electronic editing and some brief hi-hat drums, “Silk & Satin” is a unique song that will redefine the future of pop-punk.
What I cannot get over is how a relatively underground, female-led pop-punk band reshaped an entire genre with just one album. Pop-punk has been a decently static genre for years with little room for creativity. Stand Atlantic took that static sound and molded it to their advantage, a bold move that ended up benefiting them greatly in the end.
Stand Atlantic is rising in popularity, as they rightfully should. What they did with “Pink Elephant” was absolutely genius, and I cannot wait to see what else they have in store for us.