pushbike's 'Little Bastard' Packs a Whole Emo Revival into Eight Minutes
Four songs. Roughly eight minutes. An Exeter trio — George Gravell and Niall Ivie both on vocals and guitars, Tom Grogan on drums — who recorded the whole thing in Bristol in January 2026 with Jack Ogborne, and put it out through The Bird Records. On paper it’s barely a release. In practice it’s been the most-replayed thing on this desk all week, and the short-form press agrees: Bandcamp Daily’s Spencer Hughes called it “scrappy, ragged punk rock that sounds like the best of ’80s college rock and ’90s emo,” reaching for Hüsker Dü and The Get Up Kids as coordinates.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: There’s no separate bassist, and the EP solves that the old way — two guitars splitting registers, one holding low and thick while the other jangles above it. It means the bottom end comes and goes with the arrangement rather than running underneath continuously, which is exactly why the choruses hit as hard as they do. When both guitars converge, the floor drops out from under you.
The Spatial Dynamics: This is a deliberately narrow, close mix — drums up front, vocals only just above them, very little reverb anywhere. Joyzine described “Pure Hate” as “a fuzzy, clattering-yet-controlled slice of jangle indie,” and “controlled” is the operative word. It sounds chaotic and isn’t.
Standout Performance
Grogan, who fronted Bramwell before this, on drums. He’s the reason “Rainham Steel” works: Joyzine noted the song “explodes on the chorus,” and that explosion is entirely a drum decision — he simply stops holding back.
Why It’s Certified
“Pure Hate” is the one everybody picked, and Stereogum put it best, hearing “pure Dinosaur Jr. energy” turning into a “gritty ’90s emo track” before concluding, with no hedging at all, “I love it.” “I Am The Pilot” is the sleeper. Closer “Go Ahead” is good enough that Joyzine reckoned it would have earned a slot on C86. Four songs, zero fat. Certified great.