Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique: ‘It is one of the most visceral, raw, heavy, crazy, all over the place songs in The Five Point catalogue’

Denton, Texas-based punk rock band Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique has released one of the most sonically unique albums of the year, Winter Break.

The band comprises Luke Flaspohler (vocals), Luca Buongiorno Nardelli (violin), Ziggy Jackson (bass), Jayden Nylec (guitar) and Huck Lanier (drums). Flaspohler, Lanier and Buongiorno Nardelli met at the University of North Texas, whereas Flaspohler met Nylec and Jackson before college through the music camp program School of Rock. Their band name references the film Kill Bill, in which somebody is killed using this fictional method. As Flaspohler puts it: ‘I saw the movie once and I saw no-one had taken the opportunity (of using the name). I mean, I had to, it’s a good name, everyone always says it’s such a tongue twister!’

Flaspohler describes the six-track album as ‘a post-punk and punk rock blend’: ‘It bounces all over the place,’ he said. ‘I would say the first half of the album is definitely mostly punk and pop punk but in the very end, the last two songs are all post-punk. We’ve got some long, long songs on it because that’s what we love (laughs). I think how it sounds now is exactly what I wanted it to sound like.’ Jackson agrees: ‘I think it came out pretty perfect, honestly.’ Nylec interjects: ‘We were really grateful to be working with Michael Briggs, who is a local producer in Denton, he’s just the nicest person. He brought out a lot of really cool details and ideas for us to work through and expand on. Michael helped us a lot in the instrumental department because of what he had in his studio, adding things like rain sticks, bass VI, a xylophone for ‘Hometown’ etc. He also had plenty of guitar pedals for us to mess around with tone and distortion – like the Data Corruptor pedal at the end of ‘The Freeze’. It helped the songs develop even more than they already had put together.’

‘The song is mainly about being in a cover band and having that cover band be more successful than your original band – I’ve experienced that firsthand’

‘Five Point Vs. The Beatles’ is a brilliantly raucous punk opener, from the menacing opening line “I’ll swallow your soul” to the sassy retort “Come and get some”, to a tongue-in-cheek line that “The Beatles suck”: ‘We don’t actually think the Beatles suck (laughs), it’s kind of a convoluted song,’ Flaspohler said. ‘The song is mainly about being in a cover band and having that cover band be more successful than your original band – I’ve experienced that firsthand. It is not about us hating The Beatles at all, it was definitely tongue-in-cheek. A lot of the reviews over that album did not see that! It’s probably our most divisive song yet. I wanted to make a song that was kind of like Slaughter Beach, Dog (a rock band from Philadelphia).’ Nylec looks amused: ‘Really?’ Flaspohler laughs. ‘Yeah, it’s really crazy, the entire song was going to be a spoken word kind of thing with loud guitars but then I started playing it and I was like: “This would go harder if I was screaming!” So we basically just amped it up and made it a punk song!’

The standout track for me is the title track ‘Winter Break’, which kicks off with one of the hookiest, fuzzed up guitar lines I’ve heard all year: ‘The chords are all based around descending G and C major chords, that eventually lead up to a D major chord to give it the most tension,’ Nylec said. ‘The little lead line runs down the neck right back to the G to resolve the progression. It’s a very happy sounding little riff that I’m glad we were able to translate as hooky enough for the lead single!’ His guitar solo around 3.40 minutes is every bit as hooky: ‘The guitar solo is something that I had a rough idea of what I wanted for it playing it live, but it was actually right there in the studio where I came up with exactly what I wanted to do,’ Nylec said. ‘The whole idea I had for it was to make it sound like a roller coaster in some ways. Start super high, get super low, and then get as high as I possibly could on the neck for a big finish!’

There is so much going on in ‘Winter Break’ sonically, from the melody that builds and builds to the mesmerising violin line that reels you right in. As Buongiorno Nardelli puts it: ‘When coming up with this melody I just wanted to capture a feeling of longing for someone, so I opted for a slower line which didn’t reveal too much sonically but I also wanted to provide a balance and a compliment to the vocal line.’ There’s nothing conventional about this track, with the often bleak lyrics in marked contrast to the uplifting and anthemic melody. The outro charges along with all of the instrumental parts whipped up into a glorious frenzy as Flaspohler screams: “I gotta feeling, I gotta feeling this winter’s gonna break me”: ‘I was just really sad when I was writing that song,’ Flaspohler said. ‘I had a girlfriend at the time and it was literally exactly how the song was going. It was winter break, I couldn’t see any of my friends, I was stuck at home. I’ve always had this similar reaction to winter break and other breaks. I don’t like being away from everybody. It makes me feel so isolated and crappy.’

Amazingly, despite the instrumental intricacies of the song, it essentially came out of a jam session, according to Jackson: ‘Normally we just jam until we like something,’ he said. ‘Luke will figure out the lyrics and the rough structure and melody, then he brings it to us and we start playing whatever we want over it, basically, whatever feels right and do it a few times until we get a feel for what works.’ Nylec laughs: ‘This guy – Luke – is fucking full of hooks, he’s the hook master!’ I tell them that the chuggy backbone riff is often my ear worm and they laugh: ‘I’m so glad because that’s exactly what happens to me when I write it!,’ Flaspohler said. ‘I’m saying it because it’s a song I play but it gets stuck in my head a little bit, too!’

‘It is one of the most visceral, raw, heavy, crazy, all over the place songs in The Five Point catalogue‘

If he could write a song with anyone, Buongiorno Nardelli picks American rapper MC Ride: ‘That’d be really, really fun, I think he’s such an elusive musician,’ he said. ‘I don’t really know anything about him but I know that I really like his music and I really like his style. And I think that collaboration could go pretty crazy!’ Nylec picks Phil Elverum, who’s behind the Microphones and Mount Eerie: ‘I would love to write a song with him because he’s a folk musician,’ he said. ‘He’s impacted my life in such a way that I feel like I would already be in such like an emotional state to write a song with him (laughs). I really love his music and connect with his sound, it’s very naturey.’

Flaspohler goes with Zach Hill, who is best known as the drummer and co-producer of rock bands Death Grips and the I.L.Y’s: ‘Since Luca chose MC Ride, I would 100% go with Zach Hill because he has so many side projects. If I ever get a little big (laughs), I feel I’d have a chance of doing a side project with him!’ Jackson picks My Chemical Romance: ‘They were such a staple of my childhood,’ he said. ‘They have so many emotional songs.’ Flaspohler agrees: ‘I was 14 when I first got into them, I’m 22 now. I think they’re even better now!’ Lanier brings something brilliant to the mix: ‘I’m going with Andrew Bird (American singer, multi-instrumentalist and master whistler), he’s so beautiful,’ he said. ‘I want to watch him play music, he’s amazing! His name matches everything he puts into the songs.’

The closer ‘Conquer The Mornings, Pt. 2’ is a popular track in the band, with Nylec citing it as his favourite: ‘I have a little personal story with this song, if that’s okay? This song has been around for a long while and I’ve been friends with all of these people in this band for a long time,’ he said. ‘When the opportunity arose and I had the opportunity to join the band, I was very, very grateful for that because I love the music. I was a huge fan. Before I was in the band, I saw them play the song live and it always made me extremely emotional because it is one of the most visceral, raw, heavy, crazy, all over the place songs in The Five Point catalogue. There were multiple times where I saw it live and I cried. To me, it’s just a beautiful song and it was such a surreal thing for me, personally, to then join the band and record the song in the studio. After we finished the song in the studio and listened to the whole thing back, I was waterworks! Y’all can branch off of that but I just really love that song.’

‘I am a sucker for a long song and it has such an atmospheric cold feeling and I really liked the weird time signature!’

It’s easy to see why they love it, at 7.30 minutes, it’s the least conventional track on the album, peppered with violin bursts that are both haunting and faintly menacing. It’s hard to categorise it sonically; at its core, it’s a punk song that fleetingly veers towards metal in places. Flaspohler’s vocals are both anguished in some parts and remarkably resolute in others. The underpinning riff reminds me of the theme to Knight Rider and when I say this, I’m not sure they know what it is, given that it’s a TV show from the 80’s. Lanier’s favourite track turns out to be the other seven-minute track, ‘The Freeze’: ‘First of all, I am a sucker for a long song (laughs) and it has such an atmospheric cold feeling and I really liked the weird time signature!’ I say I noticed the unusual time signature but wasn’t sure what it was. ‘It’s pretty unusual,’ he agreed. ‘I don’t even know it and I play it!’ Nylec jumps in: ‘Wait, I got it (the time signature), it’s one measure of four and then another measure of six.’

Jackson also goes with ‘The Freeze’: ‘I love a lot of the songs on the album but ‘The Freeze’ impacts me more emotionally,’ he said. ‘When we were recording it, we were adding different layers of different instruments. I got this idea using a sort of synthesizer to mimic the instrumentation in a lot of N64, older video games, like ice theme levels. That was one of my favourite touches to add to the song. We can’t really perfectly recreate that live but I feel like it’s there a little bit.’ Flaspohler agrees: ‘I think that was probably the first song I ever made that was released that I genuinely liked,’ he said. ‘Our first EP (‘The Devil Sold Me This EP’, 2023), I did not listen to it at all because I didn’t really love the way it sounded. But with this newest album, ‘The Freeze’ and ‘Conquer’, I can actually listen to those. ‘The Freeze’, I gotta say, has the sickest key change!’

Jackson jumps in: ‘Luca’s violin is definitely on top there, kind of doing like a descending line, purposefully a little out of tune, it’s a little disjointed. Luke, you ended up using the bass VI, right? And that gave it a little bit more of a thick sound.’

‘I think ‘Hometown’ is pretty unique in that it, first of all, is a very different soundscape from the rest of the album and it was pretty much entirely a studio song’

Buongiorno Nardelli has a very different favourite: ‘I’m going to go with a bit of a sleeper song here, ‘Hometown’,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘I think ‘Hometown’ is pretty unique in that it, first of all, is a very different soundscape from the rest of the album and it was pretty much entirely a studio song. Luke came up with an idea and the structure and everything else we came up with on the spot in the studio. A lot of creativity went into making that song, just bouncing ideas back and forth and then executing them right then and there.’

Incredibly, it only took around four hours to do the whole song, according to Flaspohler. ‘Winter Break’ and ‘Hometown’ are essentially a pair of songs sharing the same story: ‘They’re both connected, as you can probably tell,’ Flaspohler said. ‘They both have a similar chorus but ‘Winter Break’ is about somebody leaving their home to go stay somewhere else. ‘Hometown’ is about the person who stayed behind and is thinking about the other person.’

I ask them which musicians they would most like to go out drinking with. ‘Can I say mine really quick?,’ Lanier said excitedly. ‘David Bowie. I want to hear him talk and I want to see what he’s like one-on-one and also in public. He was beautiful and very ahead of his time. I want to hear some of the ideas he was having!’ Flaspohler is deliberating who to pick: ‘Jeff Rosenstock (frontman of rock bands such as Bomb The Music Industry!) but I’ve already met him, so I don’t have to do that (laughs). I would say Dave Grohl, I think he is by far the coolest musician ever. I want to go out to the bars with him, he just seems like that kind of guy!’

‘He was very important to a lot of queer movements and an icon in the mainstream that was not following gender roles’

Nylec is deep in thought: ‘It really is such a hard question because there could really be so many answers! But I think I’m going to go with Isaac Wood from Black Country, New Road. I’m a huge fan of all of the post-punk and up-and-coming wilder bands from the UK. And it’s really cool to see bands like Black Midi, Shame and Black Country, New Road. Isaac Wood has some of the most impactful music I’ve ever heard, I really just want to just talk to him and just see how he’s doing because he left Black Country, New Road for mental health reasons, right? I would be so delighted and grateful to be able to hear how he’s doing and maybe get some insight, it would be crazy!’ Jackson has other ideas: ‘I was trying to think of someone else since Huck already said it but I would have to go with David Bowie,’ he said happily. ‘He’s influenced my life quite a bit and it seems like he was a chill guy. He was very important to a lot of queer movements and an icon in the mainstream that was not following gender roles. He just did whatever he wanted and I love all the different eras and personas that he went through.’

Another legend makes the cut: ‘If we’re going out partying, I think I have to go with Freddie Mercury,’ Buongiorno Nardelli said. ‘That would be so fun. I feel like Freddie would just know all the spots! I feel like he would be annoyed with me (laughs) but I’d be so chill and we would get along!’

(Photo from left to right: Jayden, Luke, Huck, Ziggy and Luca.)