Premiere: Bridge The Border's First Taste Of Debut EP, 'Congratulations'

Yes yes, I know I know - Bridge The Border is a bad Verb The Noun band name right out of 2008. However, before you drop your helmet and die upon the old "awful band name" hill, please come give their solid new single a listen.

Today, along with us, this Gippsland four-piece are releasing their new single, 'Congratulations', featuring Better Half vocalist and Belle Haven guitarist, Christopher Vernon. This fresh cut is an entree from the Victorian band's debut EP, 'Congratulations Everybody's Gone' - produced, mixed and mastered at Perception Studios by the aforementioned Vernon - and sees its release coming Friday, June 29th. (Alongside Vernon's contributions here, this new EP will also showcase a second collaboration in the form of Terra singer Cassie Sutton). 

Bridge The Border draw from the usually heavy-loaded pool of alternative, indie and pop-punk influences that many other groups also drink from, but these guys still create a still solid and enjoyable sound; with riff-heavy instrumentals, punk rock undertones, nice production, some catchy hooks, and a great multi-vocal delivery. Which is actually what Bridge The Border do so bloody well: delegating out vocals across all four members. In doing so, they add a wider variety of cadences to provide a much stronger dynamic for their music to lean upon. Nobelius does the heavy lifting as the group's frontman, yet this new song also vocally utilizes well-done harmonies and a solid back-and-forth between fellow guitarist Jake Van Roy and bassist Ryan Qualizza, as well as some really well-placed and aggressive screams from drummer Darcy Handley. Then throw in Vernon's distinct vocals - a part he wrote and added to the song himself - and you've got a gripping alternative/pop-punk tune on your hands.

'Congratulations' itself is a very heavy track in terms of lyrical content, dealing with people that romanticise the shit hole they're in as they continually make bad decision after bad decision (in the below video, it's one's relishing in drug abuse) just so they can stay in their fucked-up, depressed little world: this song most certainly hits hard. Especially so with the direct and call-out-like lyrics of "How does it feel to be a fucking addict?/Congratu-fucking-lations" and "Like a killer with a knife I need a motive/To set these demons free I’ve been breaking at the knees since I could breathe/But at least it’s you not me".

More on that topic, guitarist and lead singer Harley Nobelius has stated that "Congratulations exists as an intervention", kinda like a farewell to such interpersonal dramas, detailing that this song is "... a direct call out to those people who continuously make terrible decisions placing themselves in adversity, those who never stop to think drugs/alcohol are making a contribution to their state of mind and state of being. It’s written with frustration and anger towards friends who lie to themselves wondering why they are unwell, why their life is going nowhere when they wreck themselves every weekend for the fun of it."

It's all rather savage and aggressive in tone, and I really dig that.

Anyway, that's more than enough from me, go listen to 'Congratulations' below: