ALBUM REVIEW: WE ARE UNPEOPLE BY UNPEOPLE
Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Release date 9 October 2026
Are you the person “who shoots yourself in the foot with the starting gun?” Do you like intense and slightly aggressive songwriting? Do you like music that combines jarring and jangling guitar riffs, raw screams and addictive clean vocals that draw you in, with added huge singalong choruses and more musical hooks than a fishing competition could land. If the answer is yes then, London band Unpeople are for you.
Unpeople’s debut album, ‘We Are Unpeople’, in short, is colourful and exuberant, belligerent and powerful, negative but full of positivity, fun and meaningful. There is a lot going on in these 12 songs with a kaleidoscopic collision of genres, sounds and influences. It’s fantastic! Unpeople are comprised of Jake Crawford, Luke Caley, Em Lodge and Richard Rayner, and I can see why this band has attracted fans and music media attention as “one of the UK's most exciting new alternative bands”. On the evidence of this debut, I would have to agree. The stomping guitar riffs, bassline thrums, rolling drums, enchanting (and ‘chantalong’) vocals and lush harmonies are backed by real lyrical depth.
The album opens with the delightful sweet pop-punky ‘Clouds’. Musically, the combination of light and heavy crushing guitar riffs and sharp melody lines creates an earworm that hooks the listener in. It is a song about “Finally feeling like you got all the answers now” and a refusal to deal with the “oncoming stampede” and “being backed into a corner”. ‘Clouds’ makes the statement that it is a rallying point for those people written off as politically unimportant or socially disposable. Then, the political becomes personal in the aggressive ‘Friends’ that is actually about wanting a lover and love. The guitars thrash and drums “remain suspicious” as the screamed lyrics state, “I wanna love you to death”. Then, the style changes again as a huge bassline makes the downbeat and off-beat “I don’t wanna go nowhere” of ‘The Garden’ live. There is an infectious “da da da da” vocal hook that transitions smoothly from chaotic verses into a massive sing-along chorus.
What a start! The humorous song of sage advice follows. There are, indeed, times when you should say nothing at all and ‘Swallow’ explains when and how. “Jesus” is also involved in this advice. So, “Hold your tongue before I bite it out” and “you only have yourself to blame” and “don’t make me say it again”. Love it! It is followed by the insightful: “Your cutting corners and making me sick” and the advice “did you think you could” in ‘Bottle It’. Are these guys living my life? This is an absolute album highlight! I want to sing this song at full volume at a gig! ‘Blueprints’ brings the light relief with a haunting guitar riff going round and round as the band’s harmonies join in about “best laid plans” becoming unstuck in a rock storm of a chorus, so “open the door…and slide me off the floor” and cue the huge guitar solo.
The rolling drums and slightly manic guitars and “la la las” bring in emo-adjacent ‘Haunted’. If you feel haunted, you’ll love this crashing “bad feeling” song. Then, the huge guitar riff leads in the huge drums and bass of the sarcastic and cynical song ‘Waste’. The song blends 1990s style grunge with crushing modern alternative metalcore sonics paired with soaring vocal harmonies. Lyrically, the song is about our apathetic engagement in political life and the fact that normal people do not have the chance to engage in the decisions made about their lives. The contrast is in the balance between bright, catchy alternative rock with pop-punk melodic bounce accompanied by heavy breakdowns and pointed lyrics that have purpose. The song just screams summer festival singalong and energy. Then, the next song is about situational blindness in ‘Look Up’. “Open my eyes/I can barely see” as “I can’t see what’s in front of me”. There are thoughts of “Am I making my own bad luck” as the guitars thrash and the heavy breakdowns hit as the pop clean vocals say, “don’t wanna get involved in semantics”. Cue screamcore vocals of righteous anger!
The album moves into the upbeat and dancey ‘Kangareuben’. The song’s lyrics are “about what you hate the most” and the “rocky road” you take in life as you “dance around the issue”. It’s the most intense mix of pop sensibilities and heavy nu-metal. Screamcore is on! With added harmonies and a lovely melody as the listener is urged at the end “to never give up”. Next, “are you being honest with yourself” as the pressure builds with a heavy duty bass riff that chugs along in ‘Smother’. The sounds of alternative emo pop-punk underpin this song and the harmonies and guitar melody line are beautiful as heard in the short solo before the cacophonous sound of drums and harmonies washes over the top. The closing song of the album is ‘As You Were’ with the drum beats and the upbeat scuzzy guitars. They are joined by the lovely clean vocals of the band as the screamcore vocals overpower. The song ends in a huge singalong.
The album ends with asking: “Better the devil you know or better to go it alone”. I will take the former action: “I just wanna go nowhere and soak up the sun” and listen to this album. ‘We Are Unpeople’ will be your fun and thoughtful summer rock go-to record that ends in a blaze of “Hey’s” and huge guitars. What an astonishingly good debut album!
