Green Knuckle Material are a Hip-Pop Punk Rock band from New Jersey, and they recently won the Stone Pony Rock to the Top Competition, emerging in first place from over 500 bands. They’ve supported bands such as Dashboard Confessional and All Time Low, attracting a more than respectable number of Spotify streams and all the rest. So far, so much hype and exposure, but the Hip Hop Punk tag immediately planted seeds of bad ska-punk and nu-metal rap-rock crossover.
‘Traffic’ isn’t awful: the rolling drums are more post-punk than either punk or hip-hop, and it packs an honest energy and some lively sax work that’s more Psychedelic Furs or Ashley Reaks than naff punk-ska.
Yes, the spoken / rappy verse / bridge is a bit hip-hop but it’s also got elements of alt-rock that’s a shade emo but wins out by virtue of a strong melody and tidy execution of a brain-swirling genre hybridity, placing ‘Traffic’ way above expectation.
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