Manchester based alt-punk band The Empty Page just hit us with their new single “Cock of the Fifth Year,” a fat punk cut filled with piss and swagger. The new song slaps the double standards and hypocrisies served up by the patriarchy and posits you to think about the everyday threat of violence and who unjustly bears the societal burden. Thick rock chords punctuate stanzas of hollered proclamations that are delivered with teeth-gnashing determination and shouted to reach the back of every barroom. As each verse takes aim at the archetypal toxic male, the song builds a tension with every instrumental pause and ambiance. That tension releases with a snarling scream as the spring-loaded guitar deployed in the verses steps off the cliff it has been stepping towards and releases a canyon, filling wail the whirls and unwinds with thrashing violence. Fans of Black Country New Road, IDLES, and Pissed Jeans will finds lots to love about The Empty Page’s new track. Here is the band talking about the origin and catharsis of their new single;
“Cock of the fifth year is what we called the biggest jock types when we were in high school. Puffed-up, mouthy bellends who can be pretty intimidating when you’re a woman just trying to get on with your day.But it’s not just in high school we encounter overbearing men. They’re everywhere: the LinkedIn narcissist, the Tinder predator, and the (very scary) furious nice guy…The phrase ‘lock up your sons’ will be contentious but we’re not endorsing prison systems (far from it). It’s a turning on its head of the phrase ’lock up your daughters’ that has been used for decades.Women are always told to be careful, not wear headphones when walking at night, be wary of predators on the streets, carry your keys between your knuckles as a weapon. Women are told they need to protect themselves by avoiding walking alone in the dark home from a night out, cosseted, hidden away safe from the threat of, let’s face it, male violence. On that logic, why not lock the blokes up at home for women’s safety at night if they can’t be trusted to behave? Ideally, we’d live in a world where anyone being locked up isn’t necessary, of course.”
Listen to “Cock of the Fifth Year” the new single from The Empty Page on Spotify. Find more from them on their Instagram.