With a good dose of swagger and stage presence, Gen and the Degenerates have earned themselves a reputation as one of the most uncompromising live bands in the UK over the last few years. The five-piece from Liverpool play garage punk with a queer-feminist broadside and a passion for danceable grooves that leaves listeners with no time to think. On the one hand, they spout euphoric lyrics, while on the other hand, they also sing about the well-deserved demise of the status quo. This year, with their debut album, “Anti-Fun Propaganda” (2024), the band have extended their middle fingers to a society that is ready to drown in its self-imposed, self-made contradictions. As society waves the flag of freedom and beams with joy, Gen and the Degenerates see themselves as its witnesses who counter chaos with creativity on the one hand and as rebels who reject an overly sedate “business as usual” on the other hand. With this group, a socially critical message and enormously rousing songwriting come together to create alternative punk rock for the here and now.