Put A Smile On For Me is exactly the shot of adrenaline the UK guitar scene needs right now. Keo trades perfection for pure, unfiltered emotion. Recorded in just 10 days, Keo completely sidesteps the slick, overproduced traps of modern music to deliver something that sounds incredibly raw, heavy, and uncomfortably honest. From the massive, gritty shifts of “Be Happy” to the devastating emotional climax of “Spent On You,” this album captures the frantic, thunderous energy of their live shows perfectly. If you miss the unpolished emotional weight of 90s grunge and alt-rock, do not skip this record.
Frontman Finn Keogh’s guttural, raspy vocals feel far wiser and more scarred than his youth suggests, driving tracks like “That’s Me” and “Thorn” with intense friction. Put A Smile On For Me completely captures the thunderous, chaotic energy of Keo’s live shows. It is loud, unpolished, and impossibly heavy in all the right places. Tracks like “Be Happy” and “That’s Me” hit like a physical punch, trading clinical studio perfection for pure, unfiltered attitude. If you love gritty, bass-heavy UK alt-rock, turn this all the way up. Its the best 90s grunge record released in 2026. This album is a masterclass in beautiful distortion and raw angst, channeling the heavy, quiet-loud dynamics of Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins, but breathing fresh, modern UK life into the sound. A flawless, essential debut for any guitar music fan. Heavy, uncomfortably honest, and beautifully chaotic, it switches seamlessly from massive walls of guitar noise to fragile, haunting moments like “Fly”. It feels less like a calculated debut album and more like an emotional purge. It’s easily one of the most compelling and authentic rock records of the year.
Put A Smile On For Me’ – Track Listing
Side A
Be Happy
That’s Me
Fly
Best I Can Do
Bird On The Wire
Side B
Pistol
Loser
Black Dress
Blue Song
Thorn
Spent On You
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