About Sound

Do you remember when the primary target of punk band’s scorn was the government? Well, now the government we thought we wanted are in. And they’re shit. The main opposition is a whole other level of shit. Real scary shit. But Ai is some scary shit as well and perhaps the biggest threat to songwriters, musicians and the integrity of the industry since it was suggested video had killed the radio star.

If this opening paragraph sounds familiar, it’s because it is copied word for word from the last review I wrote, a song also by a Newport band about Ai and it’s interference with the arts. Well done if you noticed, cos I’m not sure there’s anyone reading these beautifully crafted reviews I’m creating using only my caffeine stimulated brain and C level GCSE English I obtained 25 years ago.

Thronk! are a DIY punk band from Newport (and Weston), where the punk scene is hot. There’s loads of punk bands, promoters, fans, a venue (the brilliant The Cab), and a record store run by a punk (Kriminal Records). Punk is alive, thriving and giving it the fuck you, as punk should.

There’s no Ai in team is punk. It opens with those fast drums and a Beastie Boys-esque opening chant of “Together, Everything, Actually, Matters” (a bit of Parquet Courts/Bodega too perhaps – my modern punk reference points are embarrassingly limited), before the driving, pulsating guitars come in, and we are into 5th gear.

The pace does drop, however. After a frenetic 90 seconds of meaty riffs and an all out attack on Artificial Intelligence, put together by Jeff Rose, things settle and the band are joined by Jimmy Watkins (Running Punks) for a more subtle attack on the beast that is threatening every corner of the arts sector. There’s more than one way of getting the point across and Thronk! nail it twice in one song.

There’s no Ai in team is whole lot of fun, too which is important for me to get across. Along with being the most committed musicians and fans around and also being the friendliest, the punk DIY crowd also has more fun than anyone. The video (above) encapsulates the spirit of the band and DIY punk while portraying a serious topic. I am now a Thronk! fan, and they’re definitely on my 2026 to see list in The Cab, I’d imagine. Away from the windmilling, though.

”There’s no Ai in team” is out now. Watch it by clicking on the YouTube video above, or by heading to Bandcamp, where you can support the band by buying it/other merch.

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Gavin Facey – 24/11/2025

Lyrics:

Together, Everything, Actually, Matters.

I Don’t understand how we got here,
Did no one watch the Terminator?
Machines are learning, maybe feeling?
There’s a thought that gets me reeling.

No AI in Team!

A real connection between you and me,
It’s not an app, or Chat GPT.
Real words coming from a real human,
These monstrosities get me fuming.

No AI in Team!

Art is emotion, music is life.
Poetry means more than what’s online.
Stop asking things, to think on your behalf,
Take a breath, sit back and laugh.

No AI in Team!

In the gloomy shadows at the feet of the black box
I briefly seize the devil by his face.
He squirms, laughs and spits and calls it a pyrrhic victory.
But I’m no John Henry, I’m just a cookie cutter shark
circling madness and the dark
As the slimy tentacle-knuckles of A.I.
Reach across the ghost lit bars of independent music venues
And every Spotify playlist imaginable shows a manga girl gone mad
Vaping beneath a bleeding moon or racing along immaculate highways
That lead anywhere but art.