The Fishy Mushroom EP Represents the Best of What We’re Coming Back To

I said I’d do this review over a week ago, but I have since listened to Fishy Mushroom’s new EP, Foul Play in Juiceland, several times. I can be a brutal critic but tonight felt like the right time to express the joy I feel listening to this album after a few too many beers and listening once again.

I listen to a lot of music and can say when something is great, but when it makes my smile, that’s a whole new level.

Fishy Mushroom’s album returns me to a golden age, now making a strong resurgence. After several decades of primarily lackluster music, rebellion is in rebirth and now reaches across races, genders, and sexual preferences. It’s like the insanity primed the whole thing as we have watched the U.S. move towards a dystopian theocratic state.

We need old-school rebellion back.

Fishy Mushroom harkens to those days and carries them forward to the presence. They take cues from the golden age of punk and metal and make them theirs.

Bury Me in Barstow is a particular favorite. The guitar riffs and bass are dead on, and I believe the song originates from being stuck in Barstow, which no one wants to be stuck in Barstow. I love it.

While the guys might spend a little too much time on spoken tracks, I have to admit they’re hilarious and harken back to a time when interim spoken word was common.

So… Ruddiculous is another brilliant track. You have to listen.

When all is said and done, Fishy Mushroom has a unique position that appeals to us old punks but also captures the new angst of Gen Z from being left behind and becoming numb to pop music that makes them cringe. They see their lives as forgotten and in jeopardy of immense suffering, and they want to rebel against existing institutions. Whether they know it or not, Fishy Mushroom is the face of the new need for old-school punk.

I give Foul Play in Juicland 4 and a half stars out of five and would love to hear what Anthony Fantano of the Needledrop thinks.