Focus track: “Gang Signs”

Our Rating: 7/10

THUMPER have never been interested in subtlety. From the beginning, their appeal lay in density, distortion and the sheer physicality of their sound. But on Sleeping With The Light On, there is something else at play. Not restraint exactly. More like control.

This is a record that still hits hard. The guitars are layered thick and loud. The drums feel relentless. The arrangements are saturated. But beneath that familiar onslaught is a band that sounds more self-aware than before. The chaos is no longer just aesthetic. It feels directed.

“Gang Signs” is a sharp entry point into that shift. On first listen, it carries all the expected hallmarks: heavy riffs, driving percussion, a vocal that cuts through rather than floats above the mix. Yet the emotional centre of the track feels more contemplative than confrontational. There’s a sense of grappling with identity inside the noise. The performance is urgent, but not reckless.

The song plays like a negotiation between bravado and vulnerability. The guitars grind forward with force, but the vocal delivery carries a thread of doubt. That tension is what gives “Gang Signs” weight. It’s not about rock star mythology. It’s about endurance. About getting knocked down and deciding, stubbornly, to keep going.

Across the album, that persistence becomes a theme. Sleeping With The Light On feels written from a place of restlessness. There’s energy here, but it isn’t celebratory. It’s wired. Sleepless. Hyperaware. The title itself suggests discomfort rather than glamour, and that mood threads through the record.

What stands out most is how tightly constructed the album feels. The band have not lost their appetite for volume, but they have refined how they use it. Riffs are less sprawling. Hooks are sharper. Even at their loudest, there’s structure.

THUMPER have always been a formidable live proposition. On this record, they sound like they are translating that physical intensity into something more enduring. Less about shock, more about staying power.

“Gang Signs” encapsulates that evolution. It’s muscular without being mindless. It’s loud without being empty. It suggests a band not trying to prove themselves anymore, but trying to define themselves.

In an era where guitar bands either lean into nostalgia or collapse into irony, THUMPER double down on seriousness. On force. On commitment.

And that seriousness is what gives Sleeping With The Light On its edge.