Collaps are currently one of the bands carrying the streetpunk flag higher than most. You can read a review of their debut album Executor here, but even back then it was obvious that this band was far from finished. This is their second full-length vinyl release, issued in Europe by Primator Crew and in the United States through Oi! The Boat Records. And while I really enjoyed the first album, this new record takes things one step further.
It feels like Collaps have slightly moved away from the rawer lo-fi sound that was such a defining feature of their debut. Instead, they’ve embraced a cleaner and more refined production, spent more time developing melodies, and weren’t afraid to experiment with a few stylistic detours. The result is a record that sounds more mature while losing none of its energy or authenticity. The album contains eleven tracks, all sung in English, and thankfully includes a lyric sheet, allowing listeners to appreciate not only the music but also the substance behind the songs.
If there’s one track that perfectly defines the album, it’s Counterculture. This is where the central idea of the entire record lies — our world, our culture, our stories. Everything else revolves around that. Alongside powerful streetpunk anthems such as A Future, You Don’t Get Shit, and Cokehead Politics—whose vocal delivery strongly reminds me of The Prowlers, by the way—you’ll also find slower and more atmospheric songs like Hostile Ground. This balance gives the album excellent dynamics and provides exactly what I want from a well-crafted record: energetic peaks, quieter moments, and enough breathing room before the next punch lands.
Collaps are also unafraid to step outside the traditional streetpunk framework. That’s especially evident in Grinding, which serves as an atmospheric portrait of frustration, exhaustion, and the feeling of being stuck in place. During certain periods of my life, I probably would have played this song on repeat during late-night bus rides through the city because it captures those emotions with almost uncomfortable accuracy. The closing track, Hostile Ground, has a similar effect, with excellent guitar work, gradual build-ups, and brilliantly executed gang vocals.
When I mentioned stylistic detours, I was thinking of songs like Away From You, where the band flirts with an almost power-pop chorus. These moments add exactly the kind of variety the album needs. Nothing feels forced or calculated—the songs retain their streetpunk core while offering enough fresh ideas to avoid sounding repetitive. It’s precisely because of this that Collaps stand a level above many of their contemporaries.
At the same time, they don’t position themselves as prophets or saviors of the scene. They have no problem openly addressing life’s exhaustion in Getting Used To The Dirt or expressing their attraction to an alternative way of living in Rock’n’Roll Lover. The line „Wedding cakes, payment rates, you bought some land; you made friends with coppers and I made a band“ perfectly sums up that mindset. While some people build careers, mortgages, and professional networks, others would rather start bands and hit the road.
One of the album’s greatest strengths is its sense of irony and its ability to comment on the world around it. Collaps can perfectly capture the current social malaise (A Future, Cokehead Politics), mock the corporate nonsense about a brighter future (You Don’t Get Shit, Rock’n’Roll Lover, I Think We’re Fucked), embrace their distance from corporate culture (Counterculture, Grey Men), and still make room for deeply personal reflections (Grinding, Hostile Ground). This isn’t simplistic preaching. It’s more like observing the world through the eyes of people who have no desire to fit into its rules.
Do you remember that scene from Human Traffic where Moff uses a remote control to fast-forward through his family’s endless lectures about discipline, respect, and living the „right“ way? Human Traffic was a film about the rave generation, but on this record Collaps capture very similar feelings through a streetpunk lens. They tell this whole circus surrounding us to go to hell—the world where corporate rats keep telling us that we should work harder, invest more, take out mortgages, spend our lives in offices and meetings, and eventually choke ourselves with our own neckties while they squeeze every last drop they can out of us.
Collaps capture that feeling with remarkable precision while backing it up with an exceptionally strong musical performance. The result is an album that not only works brilliantly today but has all the ingredients needed to become a genre classic within a few years. This is one of the finest streetpunk releases of the year. Quite possibly the finest.
TOP TRACKS: I Think We’re Fucked, Grinding, You Don’t Get Shit, A Future
