Punkfontein ft Meel Vignetting

The Leviathan

Reviewed by Duzzy Clayton

Today is release day of a track I have been waiting for, for quite some time and I can’t be more excited. Now what do you get when you combine similar sounds of a band like Blink 182 to No Doubt (the 90s era), you get pure bliss of pop punk mixed with great indie rock sounds and it couldn’t of sounded better if Tom Delonge rejoined Blink 182 to duet with Gwen Stefani and did this track themselves.

Johannesburg punk rockers Punkfontein, out of Randfontein are a band I am quickly becoming a huge a fan of, but get this. I’ve only ever heard one song of theirs namely Hi, I’m Freaking Out , which if you ever get the chance of streaming it, please do so. So when I heard the band is releasing and collaborating with one of my favourite singers at the moment, namely Meel from Meel Vignetting, I literally couldn’t wait to hear the end product. Meel Vignetting is a band I have become such a huge fan of, their debut EP The Journey is pure musical genius that have songs that are so well written, that Meel might as well been singing about my life, some songs worth checking out on there are, Follow The Moon, Empty Forever and Go.

As I get to work quite closely with Meel Vignetting, one day over WhatsApp, a message came through from Meel, I was sent a very rough copy of what she has been working on with Punkfortein. Now when I say rough copy, I mean it could of been recorded by a phone during rehearsals but even with the bad quality in sound. I could hear Meel and Punkfortein had something special here, this song is going to be a banger, and the end product is just that. A great piece of music that is probably going to give your ears a banging eargasm.

Punkfontein do what they do best on the track and you can hear this band is a solid tight unit, they know what they doing and they compliment each other beautifully with their pop punk like riffs with drums and vocals to match. But how would it be adding in a new first time recording together female vocalist. Meel who is as hardcore and alternative as they come, but how will her vocals suit the melody and entity that is Punkfontein. Trust me it just works, Meel fits in beautifully, and in fact In my opinion makes the song sound that much fuller, and really completes the track that I cant imagine it being recorded any other way.

The Leviathan is the name of the new track, upon first listen to the track I was blown away by the drums of the song, as the song starts you are hit with hard hitting drums, I was taken a back in a good way in the chilled out vibes with the song starting of slow but still has that punk sounds we all love. As the song goes on and builds, the chilled out vibes is a thing of the past and you left with a feeling of being in a ring with Mike Tyson. Meel Vignetting’s vocals are on point and the track it self has a chorus that is easy to remember and is very catchy and will stay stuck in your head, I am sure once more and more radio stations pick up the track, more and more people are gonna be hooked on that chorus and singing it in the shower or being stuck in traffic while the track is blaring on full blast.

When asked how the song came about, Punkfontein and Meel had this to say about the track

“Gareth wrote the initial music for this song about 3 years ago, and was sitting on the idea, waiting for the right moment. This song came straight to mind when the opportunity to collaborate materialised. We decided to name the song “The Leviathan” It came from a part written by Meel. It just felt right as the song was about battling some everyday monsters.”

The track it self was recorded at KVD Studios and where recording engineer Steve Bester worked on the track, it was then sent to Byron Muller who mixed and mastered the track, and what we have as an end product is well recorded track that not only has great lyrics, music and vocals but the production and recording work is top notch also and I would like congratulate everyone who worked on the track.

When asked about the art work of the track, Meel and Punkfontein had this to add about the subject.

“We pay homage with their cover artwork to the legendary ‘Tragic Kingdom’ from No Doubt. We initially wanted a visualisation of a Leviathan for our cover art but felt it might be a bit harsh. Being huge fans of Blink 182 and No Doubt, we were initially planning a tribute show during our recording process, then decided to pay homage with our cover art to the classic and timeless album ‘Tragic Kingdom’ from No Doubt. We all have such a positive and fond connection to this album from a time when music like this sculpted us!”

Leviathan is available on all streaming platforms for downloading/streaming

Well done to Meel Vignetting and Punkfontein on a great track. Hopefully these two awesome entities will work together again soon because what they have produced now is a masterpiece.

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Lyrics

Here we go again, it’s time to show up
Never thought I’d grow up and get close to where I am
And I don’t even know, what you’re feeling
But I can tell you that it’s all just for the show
With our monsters we are always being hunted
And I don’t even wonder where we go
where we go, where we go, where we go, where we go, where we go
From here

You and I, We hitch a ride
Through a rugged sky, with no alibi
I’ll take your hand, as we fly
We escape the Leviathan
And we stay on course till morning
No need to know where we’re going

With concern and fears, playing in my head
It’s never real but my heart quickly heads to the worst
Then I remember, that I’m in too deep
It’s sink or swim and there’s always a crutch nearby
With our monsters we are always being hunted
And we shouldn’t even wonder where we go
where we go, where we go, where we go, where we go, where we go
From here