Coventry-based post-punk solo artist, YNES has released her third single of 2021.
The track, titled ‘God’s Little Punching Bag’ is the first to be released on her new label, GRRRL GROANNN and is the follow up to May’s ‘Used to Be’, which was the subject of praise amongst fans and writers alike.
The single was recorded at Leamington’s Woodbine Studios (previously used by The Buzzcocks and Paul Weller) and sees the singer looking inward, accepting and embracing her own imperfections.
The lyrics are laden with punk-inspired defiance and their fast-paced delivery gives them an almost tangible edge. YNES’s punk inspiration can be heard further in the song’s structure, which is largely built around a beefy three-chord pattern; on which the distortion provides a similar bite to the lyrics. The way the drums drop in and out of the foreground put her Poly Styrene-sounding vocal at centre stage, giving the track the same anecdotal focus as its predecessor.
YNES has been drawn towards post-punk music since her teens and, after spending time mingling in the Canadian post-punk scene, the singer has now settled in her birth place of Coventry (2021’s City of Culture), where she crafted her own blend of what she herself calls ‘Britpop-punk’. The phrase stands true too; ‘God’s Little Punching Bag’ – as well as the rest of her music – stops short of resembling fine-polished pop-punk and her unambiguous, assertive lyrics strongly evoke the candid lyrical approach championed by the likes of Pulp and The Verve.
Self reflection seems to be a running theme in YNES’s recent releases but, while her previous single (the aforementioned ‘Used to Be’) was born out of lockdown-induced nostalgia, ‘God’s Little Punching Bag’ feels more like it’s looking forward to a brighter future; a future that sees the singer embracing individualism and making no apologies for it.
YNES is planning multiple single releases for summer and autumn of 2021 – with the possibility of an EP not being ruled out.