Knocked Loose - Are They The Future Of Heavy Music?

Knocked Loose

It is the best of times and worst of times-this familiar phrase has been juxtaposed to fit just

about any and every situation human kind tends to face, but it is a surprisingly and prescient sentiment about the music scene these days. Music is accessible like never before, often literally just a finger click away. We are bombarded by new music pretty much as soon as we wake to when we lay down to bed. The ability to find a song, album, or artist is as easy as setting an app on your phone to detect the title and composer and save it for your perusal whenever you see fit.

This cornucopia, if you will, of melodic delights has also made it harder than ever for musical acts to get noticed and, dare we say it, make a viable living off of the tunes they create. Listening sources such as Spotify have come under increasingly passionate and urgent criticism-the amount paid to artists paling in comparison to just how many people are listening to their material.

In the midst of what is now a dog-eat-dog world in the industry, one could easily imagine that certain forms, genres and subgenres would be left by the wayside-styles already on the fringes being pushed out to a limbo where only a few handfuls of loyal banner carriers remain to follow their favourite bands through the good times and bad.

Metal and all its myriad sub-genres including hardcore are one such style. With the latter in particular, with its ties to the punk scene and DIY ethos and bands that, in the past, happily eschewed the mainstream, preferring to wear its underground badge proudly on its sleeve as opposed to cracking the radio airwave shuffle. But when album sales equals longevity and the ability to stay in the game at all, these previously “niche” bands have had to try (and try and try again) their hardest to just be noticed. This makes the meteoric upward trajectory of Kentucky’s unlikely success story Knocked Loose all the more astonishing and those of us who support those fringe styles could not be prouder or more excited.

What hardcore band can you remember, or even name, boasts self-professed fans such as Demi Lovato or Billie Eilish? A quick Google search of the band yields results addressing the hype ensconcing the band, while asking seemingly legitimate questions like “is Knocked Loose bigger than Taylor Swift?” (one can dream). It is true that some bands affiliated with the scene have crossed that elusive threshold of popular, with acts such as Turnstile and Bring Me The Horizon garnering huge album sales, award nominations and massive sold out venues. But what makes Knocked Loose a perhaps unique case, is that the band has met with unprecedented success while absolutely refusing to compromise on their aggressive sound.

Indeed, their latest release, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, retains the sound of their previous efforts-the same crunching, mercilessly battering sound with vocalist Brian Garris shrieking his lungs out, the likes of which have rarely been heard before, much less in the so-called mainstream.

Following the bands blistering performance on Late Night with Kimmy Kimmel, featuring guest vocalist Poppy, the band could legitimately say they have in fact broken through that barrier that has kept many a band that sounds similar away and this in turn, inevitably leaves some moving to “gatekeep” the band, believing this type of music has no business with dalliances with the mainstream.

There are too many reasons to support both sides to get into here but suffice to say that, wherever you may find yourself in the argument, it is confoundingly difficult to make a case against the Kentuckians exactly because no one can credibly say that the band has “sold-out”-on their sound, ideals or philosophy.

Appearing at the top of most publications best of 2024 lists following You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Knocked Loose announced their biggest European headlining tour to date, with UK appearances seeing the band expand into the Brixton Academy in London-a much coveted venue for bands looking to break out. The tour was overwhelmingly successful for the band and they wasted little time following it up with an announcement of their participation at this summer’s Outbreak Festival in London and Manchester.

Of course, the true measure of a band usually rests on how influential the music is-whether or not it inspires the next generation or even creates its own form or style. A quick glance at the current scene certainly satisfies this aspect, as bands fitting the mould of Knocked Loose continue to emerge, enjoy measures of success and seeking to build upon the foundations that Knocked Loose have set down. For the band themselves, they readily acknowledge their own influences and the bands that came before them, paving the way for Knocked Loose to make a name for themselves and the quintet are graciously and refreshingly happy to extend a hand to any band that they feel deserve similar exposure.

The future is uncommonly bright for the Kentucky hardcore outfit and they are rightly being

celebrated as the standard-bearers for a style that rarely rubs shoulders with the giants of the industry. If Knocked Loose are the future of heavy music and it is, by now, an increasingly inarguable fact, it is in very good hands indeed.