Gen and the Degenerates

Following the announcement of their striking debut album, ‘ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA’ (set for release on 23 FEBRUARY 2024 via Marshall Records), alt-punk collective GEN AND THE DEGENERATES today reveal their latest offering in the form of ‘KIDS WANNA DANCE’, a spiralling, dystopian anthem for the disenfranchised.

Fans pre-order limited edition vinyl bundles of the album – HERE. The band will also hit the road with legendary Celtic punks, FLOGGING MOLLY, across America in 2024. 

Speaking on the themes of their new single, vocalist Genevieve Glynn-Reeves (she/they) comments: "This song is about trying to reconcile the knowledge that the future of our world is very uncertain, getting up each day and trying to build a life for ourselves. Beyond that, we all want to find a way to make those lives enjoyable. 

“Not only is the quality of life getting lower, but our politics and economy are volatile; we have to ask ourselves questions like ‘Is it even ethical to have children?’ because of the state that previous generations have left the planet in.

“It seems that if people want to spend all their time making stupid videos on TikTok or spend all their money frivolously, then why shouldn't they? There are no stable careers, and they won't be able to afford a house anyway. We all need to find the joy we can and each our way of dancing through the end times".

Ever since Genevieve Glynn-Reeves was a child, she had an overwhelming awareness of how difficult it is to be a human. There’s infinite possibility, after all, in this life for disaster, tragedy and misfortune. Switch on the news, and it’s all there in front of you – war, crime, climate change, economic upheaval, more than enough to make you think that to be alive is to struggle constantly.

What do you do when it feels like the world is crumbling around you? For Gen and the Degenerates, the answer is to have fun. “I don’t want to shy away from the darkness of being a human” explains vocalist Gen (whose pronouns are she/they). "But by that merit, I don’t want to be fully consumed by it and forget to have fun and be silly and make light of it. I think it’s important to have these difficult conversations with a sense of lightness and humour".

Through this lens, the band's enthralling debut album 'ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA' was born. A writhing mass of biting, off-kilter guitars, fuzzed-out driving basslines, and blown-out drums. The album carries all the grit and cross-pollination of hip-shaking desert rock with New York punk at a violent disco while retaining an undeniably British disposition.

Recorded and produced by the infamous ROSS ORTON (Arctic Monkeys, Amyl and the Sniffers, Drenge, Gang of Four), the album is a coming-of-age story seeing the band as both a tightly knit unit and as individuals, find out who they are, and what they stand for. Late nights and early mornings, sexuality, gender politics and mortality, all while surviving your twenties in a volatile and confusing world fuelled by turmoil.

Sonically, their debut album ‘ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA’ draws from New York punk and post-punk sounds – think Patti Smith, LCD Soundsystem and Sonic Youth. “The key with them all is that they can be obtuse and artsy or whatever, but they’re not afraid to just write a pop song” guitarist Sean reasons. The record has its eyes open and its tongue sticking out, bursting with witty takes on the messiness of twenty-something life in a system stacked against you.

With a debut like theirs, full of personality, witty observations, and frenetic riffs, it’s clear that now is Gen and the Degenerates’ time. ‘ANTI-FUN PROPAGANDA’ will be released on 23 FEBRUARY 2023 via Marshall Records - Pre-order limited edition vinyl bundles – HERE.