Bratakus: Hagridden
(Venn Records)
LP | CD | DL available here
Out 13th February 2026 – pre-orders live
The long awaited second album from Bratakus packs a powerful punk rock punch. Nathan Brown argues it is more evidence that despite the media looking backward, punk is still moving forward.
Sibling hardcore punk outfit Bratakus are a powerhouse and we’ve been fans at Louderthanwar since their first demo. Brèagha Cuinn’s guitar incises with razor sharp accuracy while her sister Onnagh’s bass growls away to give punch and power to the overall sound. Their raw and shouty vocals combine to great effect with the occasional bit of melody thrown in for good measure. You can tell they were brought up on a diet of punk rock and they’ve absorbed the attitude then spewed it back out in their own fashion.
One thing that is immediately noticeable on this, their second album, is the inclusion of live drums – a departure for the duo. While there has been nothing at all wrong with their previous material (and live performances) using programmed drums, live drums bring an added vibrancy and I feel like the full potential of the songs is achieved. They were lucky enough to have a producer who is also a drummer in Tommy Duffin.
Final Girls opens the album with the same unbridled vitality that I heard in SLF in particular, and a good many of those first wave punk bands from 50 years ago. Raw and full of energy, Bratakus take no prisoners.
Unsurprisingly, in a world that has most definitely moved backwards to strengthen patriarchal values, there is a strong feminist message on this album, from the title onwards. Bratakus are singing about the world they live in, that they experience, just as punks always have. “We won’t be tokens! We won’t be broken” they sing on Tokened, driven by a steady rhythm and bass line. “Don’t wanna be put on a pedestal. Or made to feel my gender’s what makes me beautiful…Just wanna be treated like an equal part.”
When you consider all the won’ts, don’ts and wannas that made up early punk rock classics, this just makes Bratakus all the cooler. Let’s face it, the line “We won’t follow all your rules” in Final Girls at the start of the album is pretty much punk 101.
Hagridden is a great album from start to finish – full of energy, passion and punch – but I confess to having a favourite. I keep returning to Worth It. It’s got the right mix of a jerky abrasive verse and a killer chorus melody. It also evidences how Bratakus are not just singing simplistic slogans.
Rather than telling us “it’s bad, man” they dig into the complexity and nuance of fast fashion and sweat shops. Fast fashion is part of a capitalist cycle of consumption that devalues labour to offer cheap products. When we are underpaid, we buy cheap products meaning someone somewhere else is underpaid. And the man (it’s usually men) takes the profits for none of the work. We’re not getting a bargain either. Low price for low quality is bad for everyone.
This is why you won’t find sweatshop stock among Bratakus merch. This is really about more than sweatshops, it’s about the whole capitalist system. As the song drops out to a chunky bass line and shouted vocals, they deliver the killer blow:
“This cycle of exploitation never ends
You are exploited while you exploit them”.
Highlighting this one song is not to diminish any of the other tunes. Every one of the 10 tracks is a banger and there is some variety in the sound. Among the loud and fast tuneage they step down a gear for the grungey Drowning without it sounding out of place – although that song still releases the pent up kinetic energy towards its conclusion.
Bratakus are heads up not heads down. They spot the linkages in exploitation across the globe and across species boundaries. For example, a revisit to their song Real Men Eat Meat puts animal rights alongside a challenge to bullshit machismo.
On this album the Brats prove punk rock is not just old men (mostly) reliving past dreams on the revival circuit, despite all the media hoo-ha about 1976. Move aside, old farts and pay attention tired journalists. Punk is still alive and thriving, still pushing boundaries and regenerating in spite of it being around for 50 years. As long as a kid picks up a guitar to make some gnarly noise and shout about what they are pissed off with, the spirit of punk will continue. Only some will get to sound as good as Bratakus.
~
Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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