Last week, Hunx and His Punx released their first new album in over a decade. Walk Out on This World is an album several years in the making and the backstory is marked by tragedy, including the death of bassist Shannon Shaw’s fiancé in 2022 and, more recently, the Eaton Fire, which devastated Seth Bogart’s neighborhood. You might think that would make for a somber album, but Hunx and His Punx don’t play like that. Walk Out on This World is real, an album that acknowledges that life is rough without dropping the beat.
Album opener, “Alone in Hollywood on Acid,” sets the vibe for the album with its garage rock-punk energy and Shaw’s vocals convey both vulnerability and empowerment. The song’s video is a charmer. In it, the trio, rounded out by drummer Erin Emslie, goofs around in Outfitters Wig and trips out on the boulevard. It’s shot with a vintage film haze and a shaky camera, replicating the look of 1960s exploitation films about wayward youth and LSD. With a cameo from John Waters’ star and a Cousin Itt lookalike chasing Hunx and His Punx down the street, the band, and director Sandy Honig, somehow made the tourist trap look more interesting than it’s been in years.
Shaw, who you’ll recognize from Shannon and the Clams, takes the lead on the album’s earworm, “Rainy Day in L.A.,” which should also be commended as the rare song acknowledging that we too have gloomy weather. Meanwhile, Bogart fronts “Wild Boys,” a banger with a ‘70s glam rock edge. Again, you have to see the video for this one, with Bogart and a crew of wild boys getting into leather shenanigans while Shaw and Emslie sing backup looking like they just stepped out of Cry-Baby.
The song that might best sum up the themes on Walk Out on This World is probably “Grab Yr Pearls,” where the trio sings, “If its the end of the world, I want to have some fun” while the song shifts from ‘60s slow dance to punk jam.
Hunx and His Punx twist on vintage sounds is consistently engaging, from the homage to rock ’n’ roll icons in “Little Richard” to the Ramones-style chorus in “Top of the Punks.” The retro twists add a rawness to the album’s more melancholy songs, like “Walk Out on This World,” which adds a touch of classic country to a song about coping with grief and is a strong closing track for the album of the same name.
Get Walk Out on This World by Hunx and His Punx. Catch the band on tour this September. Hunx and His Punx play the Belasco in Los Angeles on September 27.
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Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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