When we first wrote about Culture Trap (Helsinki), they were a four-piece. Two years later, they’ve added an extra member, opting for a triple guitar attack on their self-titled debut album. Don’t worry, the additional guitar adds an extra layer of fun rather than making things awkward or overly complicated. Culture Trap is the kind of band that always favors catchy hooks over pretension, solid songwriting over individual showmanship, and doesn’t need three minutes if a song is already perfect at half that length.

Culture Trap is a contagious, energetic, and highly addictive garage pop punk record. The band has settled into a sound reminiscent of the Dirtnap Records catalog, but also with the surge of catchy garage pop bands from the ’10s.

I wrote a rave review of a three-song teaser single the band released in January. All three songs from that single are on the album, including the standout League, which wraps things up the ten-song set in barely 21 minutes. That leaves seven additional songs to discover, and I’m having a blast with them. Check out the opening salvo of the Mind Spider-esque Control, the infectious 70-second pop punk blast Blink, and the hook-packed I Quit. Culture Trap then eases off the gas somewhat for more garage pop-leaning songs like Try and Rose. The B-side of the record contains the fastest track (Black Belt) and catchiest song (Offline), as well as a hit that could appeal to a broader audience (Main Character).

Did a highly promising short-format band just graduate to an album-ready act? Absolutely, and they did it with flying colors! Album out now on Total Profit.

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