‘Target Practice‘, the fifth release from the San Francisco outfit Pardoner, was brought to my attention by my buddy Sam while I was cleaning the green room at Cactus Club. I was looking for something… something good that is… and possibly something I hadn’t heard before. I am constantly looking for something new to listen to, not only because I’m quite frankly bored with the same shit I’m usually listening to, but it also helps me keep myself going while I was vacuuming up some random shit from this kinda shaggy gray carpet up there…. nothing bad…. just needs to be done from time to time. That’s when I turned around, and Sam popped in, immediately brightening my mood by letting me know that Pardoner has a new release. I mean, I hadn’t listened to anything new from this band since their previous release, ‘Peace Loving People,’ that came out in 2023. I still play “Are You Free Tonight” off that record when I DJ from time to time… and now I’m eager to listen to this new one to see what they have going on. So I popped the album on my big ass Bluetooth Soundcore Boom 2 speaker (which is a bit of an overkill for just cleaning the green room… but it makes it easier than having those dumb wireless earbud things fall into a toilet or something when cleaning shit) and pressed play on my phone and away I went on this music journey of kick-ass bass lines, jagged guitar hooks, and some witty ass lyrics that have that distinct delivery that only Max Freeland can bring.
So, after my first listen of this 11-song album that clocks in at just under 24 minutes… there were four tracks that stood out… not three like usual… I couldn’t narrow it down to just three. It’s like picking your favorite slice of pizza when you have unlimited toppings… and the pizza rules. Or maybe I’m just fucking hungry… shit… I think I am hungry… so disregard that shit about pizza. Here are four tracks that had me bouncing around the green room while cleaning, and I almost forgot I was even working ’cause they were so good. First song up, “Canary” kicks the album off just right with the energy needed to smack your simple ass around and get ya going. Next up, “Don’t Slouch” fucking great written song and my favorite song on the album… such great jangly and punchy guitar work and just fucking rules all the way up to its abrupt end. And then…. and then… no and then…. and then… Mid-album cut “Twisted”…. great vocal harmonies and garage-rock riffs that are both noisy and melodic and slightly chaotic… wow… that kinda rhymed… goddamn musical genius over here. Finally… a little later in the release, “We’re Living In Violent Times,” which lyrically kinda brought all my anxieties and the fun voices in my fucking head together and made them all make a little more sense… but in a fun, more exciting way… great fucking song right there as well.
‘Target Practice’is one of my favorite releases of 2026… I mean, Pardoner just keeps getting better and better with each album… and with this album, only one song clocks in over 3 minutes, yet it still gets their message across without adding any unnecessary weird-ass lyrics or musical bullshit just to make a longer song for no reason at all. Once again… thanks to Sam for the heads up on this one…. It’s been a while since I have heard from Pardoner.… It’s been years… but in a good way, I guess. I hope to maybe catch them live here in Milwaukee sometime… how about Cactus Club?! Then you can see all my hard work in that cozy ass green room. Think about it. Would kick ass. Other than that… give the album a spin today.
Links of interest:
https://www.instagram.com/pardoner.band/
https://pardoner.bandcamp.com/album/target-practice
https://www.bar-none.com/featured-artists#/pardoner
