On September 16th, 2016, Knocked Loose released their debut studio album Laugh Tracks, a record that would become one of the defining releases of the band’s early career.
Released through Pure Noise Records, the 11-track album followed 2014’s Pop Culture EP and was produced, engineered and mixed by Will Putney. Pure Noise’s own release archive confirms the original September 16th release date and tracklisting.
Laugh Tracks arrived as Knocked Loose were beginning to build serious momentum beyond their Kentucky hardcore roots. Contemporary reviews picked up on that potential immediately. Metal Injection gave the record a 9/10, describing it as one of 2016’s biggest standouts, while Metal Hammer praised the band’s heaviness and credibility but felt the record lost some momentum in its second half.
The album gave us tracks including “Deadringer”, “Oblivions Peak”, “Billy No Mates”, “Blood Will Have Blood” and one song that has become particularly difficult to separate from Knocked Loose: “Counting Worms”.
At just over a minute long, “Counting Worms” contains the now instantly recognisable “arf arf” callout before its breakdown. Years later, even Metal Injection would point to the moment as something Knocked Loose had effectively burned into the vocabulary of hardcore fans.
Looking back at the reaction a decade later, Laugh Tracks currently holds a 72 critic score and 79 user score from more than 1,400 user ratings on Album Of The Year, showing how strongly the debut has held up with listeners.
What makes the anniversary particularly interesting is how far Knocked Loose have travelled since. Laugh Tracks was their first full-length album; ten years later, the band that released it occupies a considerably bigger place in heavy music.
But Laugh Tracks remains the starting point of their album catalogue, and songs from it helped establish the sound and identity that introduced a much wider audience to Knocked Loose!