PET NEEDS break into the new year with “Punk Isn’t Dead (It’s Just Up For Sale)” (Acoustic).The track is peeled from the upcoming new album ‘Kind of Acoustic’, which arrives on 24th January., The second date of their acoustic tour across January & February. A track that has found the Essex four-piece parading their punk with pride, with tongues firmly in cheeks, since their very earliest days; this January the band deliver us a fresh rendition of this favourite cut.
Of this new acoustic reworking of “Punk Isn’t Dead (It’s Just Up For Sale)”, Johnny of the band says: “We tour the world making a living playing shows and selling t-shirts that proudly shout, “Punk Isn’t Dead (It’s just Up for Sale!)”…. The irony isn’t lost on us. Talk about life imitating art! We didn’t know it at the time, but by writing this song we have subjected ourselves to a lifetime of questions by punk rock gatekeepers – is punk dead? Are we punk? Is it punk if it has a guitar solo?…”
While the original version of “Punk Isn’t Dead (It’s Just Up For Sale)” was written many years ago after Johnny spent a morning on a train to London alongside tattooed commuters rolling down their shirt sleeves to go work in the city, fast forward to 2025 and its lost none of its zest or biting commentary in its stripped-back form. Arriving complete with a new official video, Johnny adds: “It was a joy to revisit and reimagine the tune in a dilapidated church on the west coast of Wales. And the video of course had to be a collaboration with our amazing fanbase who keep us in a job. They’re the best.”
The new single follows recent release ‘The Burning Building’, both of which will form part of a special acoustic album, ‘Kind of Acoustic’, coming out at the end of the month on the Xtra Mile Recordings label. Decamping to the tiny Welsh village of Borth, the band worked with producer Mike West, where they spent four frantic days reworking favourites from their repertoire to date them and performing them live in the village’s deconsecrated church, Our Lady Studio.
Kind of Acoustic’ will be released on 24th January 2025, via Xtra Mile Recordings. Supporting the release in fitting fashion, PET NEEDS will also be heading out on a run of acoustic shows around the release at the end of the month for further information and a chance to get your hands on the album, check out their website
