Danish Punk Band Forever Unclean Rocks Real Hard with New Album Called Best

4.4 out of 5 stars

The punk scene is so diverse and scattered over so many different countries, it is always awesome to find really good bands that you haven’t heard of before or hear music from bands that don’t do things the same way as the more popular bands out there.

That’s how I felt when I heard Forever Unclean for the first time when they released their new album Best on January 1st.

I had never heard of the band, and I had no idea what to expect from a punk band from Copenhagen, Denmark since I don’t recall the last time I heard a punk band from Denmark. However, like true punk rockers, the album blasts out of the gate with vocals belting lyrics over bombastic drums and thunderous guitars (well, one guitar and one bass guitar).

This is the debut album (LP) for the Danish trio consisting of Leo Wallin on drums, Troels Pedersen on bass, and Lasse Mikkelsen who is the lead singer and guitar player.

The album overall is stuffed full of catchy, short songs. All 11 songs finish in under 22 minutes, and you never feel like you are either going too fast all the time, nor do the songs feel like they need more or less in them.

There are songs like “Crowds” that have cool breakdowns and guitar solos, and then there is the song “Rules” that rips for 30 seconds and moves on. 

I will admit, when I first played the album, the harshness of the vocals at the beginning of the first song “Dream” almost had me back out of listening to a full song…let alone a full album.

It’s hard for me to say that too, because I am a huge fan of bands that have very scream-heavy or untrained vocals. Hell, I have listened to Screeching Weasel most of my life.

So, I just said, “Give it 2 or 3 songs to make any sort of actual judgment,” and I am glad I did, because the whole rest of the album is pretty damn good. 

The band is pretty much a DIY band according to their information on Bandcamp, which is also another reason to love them.

The song “Scars” is one of my favorites on the album, and if you started with that song, you would instantly know the style of music that Forever Unclean are going for. It has a great slower start, and then punches you in the face with a big come-in that rocks hard as hell.

The longest song on the album is “Broken” at 2:30. So, if you have a short attention span, then you are not going to be bored by this band at all. 

I do think that "Broken" is also my favorite song on the album. That song is likely going to be up for “Song of the Year” by the end of 2022. So catchy and so good.

I look forward to seeing what else this band will have up their sleeve for future music, but as far as debut albums go, this is one of the better ones I have heard in a long time…especially for not having major label support or a ton of money backing them.