Review: Stud Count Rages with Debut Album

Photo Credit: Matt Bender

Philadelphia based punk band Stud Count is releasing their self-titled debut album Stud Count on June 22nd. Drummer Bret Hart, bassist Jake Beaver, vocalist Norelle Green, guitarist Max D’ambra and guitarist Matthew Green recorded the album in the Fall of 2020 but sat on it until the summer of 2021 before signing with Smartpunk Records.

The band says “We started just before quarantine hit early in 2020, and played a show only weeks before everything shut down that February and March – we’ve been itching to get out ever since. Getting back out there, making new friends and even playing So What?! Music Festival as a new band is super exciting for us. We can’t wait to finally show the world what we’ve been working on.”

I get excited when a new album comes out on Smartpunk. During the last year I reviewed albums by two more of their bands, One Flew West and Debt Neglector, that really impressed. The bar was set high by these two bands, but Stud Count does not disappoint with this release.

Stud Count is pure punk with loud chaotic guitars and drums just on the verge of drowning out the vocals. It makes you want to rage and let out your frustrations. The songs are short and to the point which is perfect for our ADHD society. Twelve tracks over 24 minutes allows you to easily listen to the entire album from start to finish.

While Noelle Green’s vocals battle with the guitars at times they do come to the forefront on a few tracks. “Through My Window” and “Talkin 2 You” are more melodic and less hardcore than other songs allowing her vocals to stand out more. I wish the mix levels for the remaining songs would have been biased slightly more to the vocals to emphasize Green’s great voice.

Stud Count is a punk album that hearkens back to the ’70s. While I have to admit that my favorite musical genre is pop-punk, it is refreshing to listen to an album that gets rid of the pop prefix and just delivers aggressive string banging punk.

Tracklisting