Review
Stick To Your Guns hold a mirror up to society’s ills without blurring its ugliness. In an attempt to unapologetically trumpet real change, the Southern California quintet never shies away from speaking or screaming unpopular truths from the purest place. With Keep Planting Flowers, Jesse Barnett (vocals), Andrew Rose (bass), Adam Galindo (drums), Chris Rawson (guitar), and Josh James (guitar) are ditching the pessimistic nihilist vision that has been plaguing alternative music for uplifting melodies and catchy choruses, while maintaining the aggressive, nasty breakdowns Hardcore is known for.
Barely surpassing the 24-minute mark, Keep Planting Flowers, releasing through Sharptone Records on the 10th of January 2025, delivers everything fans have come to expect from them. Their signature blend of melodic hardcore with a sprinkle of everything else Alternative oozes through the whole album. The opener, ‘We All Die Anyway’, immediately sets the album’s tone with a message to embrace life in the face of any and all adversity. While the song’s title might seem negative to some, here it’s framed as a call to action: since we’ll all die anyway, we might as well make the most of our lives.
The album truly kicks in with ‘Spineless’, driven by an absolutely nasty bass tone straight to an earworm of a chorus. Stick To Your Guns excel at playing to their strengths, crafting some of the most efficient, straight-to-the-point tracks. However, they also seem to enjoy throwing in the occasional curveball, like the unexpected post-chorus bridge in ‘Permanent Dark’. It takes a surprising post-punkish detour before seamlessly returning to the main track, adding a bit of flair to the already great track.
Though, the eponymous track is the undeniable highlight of the album. From the very first seconds, ‘Keep Planting Flowers’ grabs you by the emotional throat. Arriving at just the right moment, during the album’s peak in energy, it hits even harder with its poignant lyrics. The instrumentation feels deeply personal, and the tremolo during the final section ties the song together beautifully. It almost evokes a similar atmosphere to what bands like Harakiri For The Sky or Svalbard create, blending expansive, shoegazing soundscapes with raw, heartfelt lyrical delivery meant to make you reflect on yourself. It perfectly embodies what the album tries to be, a message to keep planting flowers no matter what.
The album wraps up with two collabs, with ‘Who Needs Who’, featuring Scott Vogel of Terror, which delivers a no-nonsense, 54 seconds of unadulterated Hardcore as well as SeeYouSpaceCowboy’s mastermind Connie Sgarbossa on ‘H84U’, who brings her signature chaotic, mathcore elements to an already juicy record full of influences. The result is a great send-off for what feels like a 9/10 album—just shy of a 10 due to its short length, yet already a very strong contender for the end of year charts.