Swagger ‘n’ Grit

Personal Punk review Magic Of The Marketplace’s new EP ‘The Spectators Are Leaving’ - Five new songs from Blackpool’s Andy Higgins’ project, featuring current and ex-members of ERASE TODAY, SONIC BOOM SIX, LITTERBUG and SICK56.

Continuing in the vein of last year’s solid Jealous Moon EP, these tracks again pay homage to the late 70s, with added crunch and a little experimentation. The cocksure When The Story Ends sees timeworn vocals over full guitars, rhythm section as solid anchor, while The Spectators Are Leaving‘s vocals go slightly off, in a fetching barroom stylee, the catchy ‘ooh-ooh‘ backing meshing with a cute CULT guitar nod. The solid hooks of There’s A Darkness pulls propulsive, melodic punk shapes, before the band find their outré muscle on The Natural Order Of Things. The kaleidoscopic swirl on the vocal spreads outward before loud guitars arrive to straighten things out, a catchy, power-pop current giving the song a healthy glow. Finally, the, unashamedly old school, rocky punk of What’s The Remedy brims with hooks galore and fiery licks.

MAGIC OF THE MARKETPLACE knock out a sparky, modern take on first-wave punk rock; think COCK SPARRER swagger filtered through THE GREAT ST LOUIS‘ grit. A box-fresh antidote to a cynical world.

https://personalpunk.wordpress.com/2026/06/10/magic-of-the-marketplace-the-spectators-are-leaving-ep-engineer-records-jsntgm-records/