A decade on from the release of their self-financed ‘Blatant Propaganda’ debut Brighton ska punks The Bar Stool Preachers return with their fourth record ‘Party Eternal’, and this time around they add producer Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Sum 41, Kelly Clarkson, Megadeth, Limp Bizkit & Jack Johnson to name but a few) to the musical equation to well and truly get the par-tay started.
Obviously with someone of Webb’s stature behind the desk ‘Party Eternal’ sounds exactly like you might expect for a major label record, however it’s not, not this time around, it’s self-released, and with Pure Noise Records now very much in the rear-view mirror singer T.J. McFaull along with his Preachers are returning to their DIY roots for this all new 14 track album pursuing a (long since smashed) £15,000 crowdfunder target by which to get their music recorded, pressed and released.
On first hearing ‘Party Eternal’ though, I honestly had to check it wasn’t coming out on Hellcat Records, because opener ‘Sick World’ sounds like the guys had Tim Armstrong working with them, not Cameron Webb, and that’s also before realising that T.J. is also trading vocals with none other than Angelo Moore from the mighty Fishbone. What an introduction!!!
It’s when ‘Plastic Romantic’ chimes in next, though, that I really get a sense of how high the songwriting bar is being set for this record. It’s a song with a very serious social message yet is also enormously catchy stuff and along with a few others like ‘Want To Know’, ‘Singing Along’ and ‘You’re Killing Me Eve’ the band take the more contemporary sounds of their genre-busting ‘Above the Static’ opus and once again deliver the goods with the fearlessness that we’ve all come to expect from a band now four records and countless worldwide gigs into their career.
Having also released a couple of videos in the drive to promote the record and in turn help them hit their crowdfunder target it was ‘Pick A Side’ that first got things up and running for many of us back in early 2026 and this track not only comes complete with a HUGE singalong chorus but also a message that maybe not all your musical heroes might be all they are cracked up to be.
Speaking of which, it’s obvious that T.J. still holds Mike Skinner in very high regard, as ‘Hand Grenade Heart’ and ‘The Closed Door’ both feature the BSP frontman in a more reflective, half-spoken vocal mode which not only helps break up the pace of the record but also adds another shade of colouring to the band’s extensive songwriting palette. Plus, for those of us still craving the ska punk band that gave us ‘Blatant Propaganda’, we have ‘Time Of Our Lives’, ‘Heartbeat Baby’, the riotous ‘SOS’, and the almost Marilyn Manson-esque stomp of ‘Party Eternal’ for us all to have a right proper knees up to.
In an age when audience strive to hear “the hits” by any band, it’s testament to the Bar Stool Preachers songwriting that any of the fourteen songs on ‘Party Eternal’ could be just that, a hit, in fact two of the strongest contenders are left right till the end, with the infectious “dah, na, na, na, nana, na na, nah” hook of ‘One For The Weekend’ and then ‘This Is Goodbye’ complete with “Oi! Oi! Oi!” help from The Rumjacks helps round things off in the finest of piratey fashions.
‘Party Eternal’ is an album that exudes a cocky confidence and bowls its way out of the speakers like it’s very much on a mission, that mission I guess being to get us all singing, dancing and, yes indeed, thinking.
So, when the Preachers return to stages around the UK this October to help promote this record, you best get your best your dancing shoes on and loosen up those singing voices, ready to ‘Party Eternal’.
You can pre-order your copy plus buy a load of other things by visiting the band HERE
Authopr: Johnny Hayward
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