Human Needs: Rome Post-Punk Band Uncovers Debut Album Concrete//Generic

Human Needs’ debut album, Concrete//Generic, is a tightrope walk between chaos and clarity. Dropping December 6, 2024, and crafted by Gabor Wiltner (mixing and mastering), this record dives headfirst into a messy knot of raw post punk energy.

The title alone sets the tone: Concrete//Generic is indeed a collision of the specific and the universal. Musically, Human Needs play with tension and interplay throughout the ten tracks of the record. But somehow opposites don’t cancel each other out but coexist in volatile harmony across anarcho-punk fury, post-punk grooves, and primal energy from metropolitan dungeons. A sound that’s familiar yet impossible to pin down.

The opener “What a Nice Symphony” sets the mood with literal dog barking and warm ambient layers—a controlled explosion that almost feels like a punk band reimagining musique concrète.

This chaos bleeds into “Dead Calm,” where wiry guitars and relentless drums build a storm of tension.

“Hello World” comes out swinging with confrontational swagger, sounding like a handshake and a slap in the face at the same time.

Midway through, ironically right after the song named “The End,” comes the hypnotic “By Men, By Nature, By Things,” exploring slower, darker territories by blending found sounds and tense atmospheres.

These tracks lean into post-punk’s shadowy corners without losing any of the raw urgency. The standout “Magick Without Tears” gives that eerie, ritualistic vibe that feels more séance than song.

Then there’s “Flowers,” a beautiful, nearly five-minute closer that trades fury for introspection. It’s the moment where the dust settles, but the questions raised still linger like smoke.

Human Needs come from Rome, Italy, and pull from some of my own favorite parts of punk history—namely anarcho and post-punk. Somehow, they make it sound fresh and not ancient. Vocals soaked in reverb shift between declarative chants and animalistic wails, piercing guitars commanding the sonic chaos of authentic confusion.

Themes of alienation, identity, and primal instinct run deep—not just in the lyrics but in the textures and pacing of these ten songs. It’s confrontational, cathartic, and weirdly beautiful.

While Concrete//Generic doesn’t particularly care about fitting into neat genre boxes, it’s punk for sure—but not as in a dying niche genre from 50 years ago. Instead, it’s a visceral modern-day art piece, a record that feels very much alive and ready to bite.

The album is available on beautiful vinyl from Rope or Guilliotine and at the end of 2024 Human Needs will go on tour. Make sure not to miss them if they come to your city.