Nashville, Tennessee might not be your first thought when thinking high quality punk rock (it wasn’t mine), so it was a pleasant surprise when Winona Fighter appeared on my radar. Armed with their incendiary debut album, My Apologies To The Chef, they’re on a mission to create an inclusive, accessible scene and it’s an assignment the bound to fulfil with great aplomb. Featuring fourteen songs that are short, sharp, shocks to the system, this is a rebel rousing affair and one that is a bold statement of intent. Winona Fighter are out to save the world, and they’re going to battle for every inch.

With none of the album’s tracks breaking the three-minute mark, My Apologies To The Chef doesn’t hang around and it doesn’t use two notes when one will suffice. This is a streamlined, jet-propelled, high-octane brand of punk and one that emits a phosphorous heat. However, no matter how fast and furious things get, the band never lose sight of important stuff like song structure and melody, and that’s really no surprise because frontwoman (and multi-instrumentalist) Coco Kinnon originally came up through the Boston scene and if there was one thing that united bands as diverse as SS Decontrol, Gang Green and Negative FX, then it was a love of groove and melody. It’s something Coco has brought to this project and along with guitarist Dan Fuson and bassist/producer Austin Luther, ensures that opening track ‘JUMPERCABLES’ (and indeed, the whole album) swings with wrecking ball force. It’s an aptly-titled opener and one that could shock even the most ardent somnambulist from their slumber. It sets the tone for the rest of the album as the band prove themselves remarkably pliant and roll with an elasticity that no two songs inhabit the same sonic space; thus the pop-punk of ‘I’M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE’ sits next to the heavyweight ‘ATTENTION’ quite naturally. This is a rumbustious record, one that’s characterised rough and tumble and as such these tracks are sure to transfer well to the live environment and sets things up nicely for their debut UK appearance at this year’s Slam Dunk festival.

At the culmination of every punk festival, a question that seems more urgent with every passing year is who will be future headliners. Enter Winona Fighter.

• My Apologies To The Chef is released via Rise Records on 14th February 2025.
• Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. JUMPERCABLES
2. You Look Like A Drunken Phoebe Bridgers
3. Subaru
4. HAMMS IN A GLASS
5. TALK
6. Swimmer’s Ear
7. R U FAMOUS
8. I Think You Should Leave
9. I’M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE
10. ATTENTION
11. Wlbrn St Tvrn
12. Swear To God That I’m (FINE)
13. Johnny’s Dead
14. DON’T WALLOW