Aussie pop-punk party starters Stand Atlantic are back with their second album, Pink Elephant, the sequel to 2018’s immensely enjoyable Skinny Dipping.

Comprised of Bonnie Fraser (vocals / guitar), David Potter (guitar), Miki Rich (bass) and Jonno Panichi (drums), the four-piece rose to national attention in their homeland with a trio of EPs all released before their debut LP: Catalyst (under their previous name What It’s Worth) in 2013, A Place Apart two years later, and 2017’s Sidewinder. Over that period, the band went through several lineup changes, but settled into their current incarnation last year, when Rich, who had been touring with the band since 2017, joined permanently.

Jurassic Park was Pink Elephant’s lead single, and it’s easy to see why. It picks up where Skinny Dipping left off, a near-perfect sub-three-minute slice of the pop-punk genre’s finest calling cards. Album openers Like That and Shh! are high points too, both high octane and infectiously catchy affairs propelled along by feedback-laden guitars. pounding drums and Fraser’s addictive vocals.

It’s a credit to Stand Atlantic that, despite being able to turn out pop-punk anthems seemingly at will, they’re willing to experiment too. Sometimes that impulse comes off, as with Eviligo’s sugar-soaked pop opening or Wavelength’s metal guitars, but at other times it just misses the mark, as with album oddity Blurry, a peculiar 80s inspired synth-fest, or the strangely low key Silk & Satin.

Drink To Drown is Pink Elephant’s one complete change of a pace, an emotionally-charged piano ballad that sees Fraser sing: “Cut me too deep / So uneasy / Fragments of me / That I don’t need / Drop your colours / From the ceiling / If you love me / Saturate me”. Closing track Hate Me (Sometimes) is a ludicrously strong finish, a boisterous but intricately structured joy of a song. Overall then, Pink Elephant is a case of evolution not revolution from one of the pop-punk scene’s standout acts.

Pink Elephant track list:

1. Like That

2. Shh!

3. Blurry

4. Jurassic Park

5. Eviligo

6. Wavelength

7. Drink To Drown

 pop       punk 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.