Biography
Scottish quartet Cold Years taps into the same pop-punk energy that dominated radio in the ‘90s and 2000s, despite the distance of an ocean and a generation. Their high-volume, guitar-driven approach has grown sharper and more anthemic since the arrival of their breakthrough album Paradise in 2020, helping them cultivate a devoted following across Europe and farther afield.
The band came together in Aberdeen, Scotland, with Ross Gordon handling vocals and guitar, Finlay Urquhart on guitar, Louis Craighead on bass, and Fraser Allen on drums. Their lyrics and outlook drew from both the urge to escape their granite-heavy port city and the broader sociopolitical upheaval that followed Brexit. Instead of surrendering to that atmosphere, they chose bright melodies and singalong choruses in keeping with punk’s long-standing impulse to uplift listeners. Refining that approach took several years. The earlier EPs Mile Marker (2015), Death Chasers (2016), and Northern Blue (2018) carried a looser vocal and songwriting approach that was streamlined by the time Paradise appeared in 2020, which included the notable tracks “Life with a View,” “Night Like This,” and “Too Far Gone.” Following a spirited pop-punk take on Lizzo’s hit “Good as Hell” released in 2021 to benefit the Scottish Association of Mental Health, the band issued the wide-ranging Goodbye to Misery in 2022, drawing influence from American acts such as Against Me! and the Gaslight Anthem. That record stands as their only album recorded as a trio after Fraser Allen’s departure; Static Dress’s Sam Ogden stepped in for studio duties, and Jimmy Allen later joined as the permanent drummer.
Two further cover singles arrived in 2022—the Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” and Shakin’ Stevens’ “Merry Christmas Everyone”—before Cold Years completed work on their third album, A Different Life, in 2024. Cut in northern New Jersey, the set delivered some of their most memorable songs yet, among them “Radio,” “Roll with It,” and the explicitly political “Choke.”
The band came together in Aberdeen, Scotland, with Ross Gordon handling vocals and guitar, Finlay Urquhart on guitar, Louis Craighead on bass, and Fraser Allen on drums. Their lyrics and outlook drew from both the urge to escape their granite-heavy port city and the broader sociopolitical upheaval that followed Brexit. Instead of surrendering to that atmosphere, they chose bright melodies and singalong choruses in keeping with punk’s long-standing impulse to uplift listeners. Refining that approach took several years. The earlier EPs Mile Marker (2015), Death Chasers (2016), and Northern Blue (2018) carried a looser vocal and songwriting approach that was streamlined by the time Paradise appeared in 2020, which included the notable tracks “Life with a View,” “Night Like This,” and “Too Far Gone.” Following a spirited pop-punk take on Lizzo’s hit “Good as Hell” released in 2021 to benefit the Scottish Association of Mental Health, the band issued the wide-ranging Goodbye to Misery in 2022, drawing influence from American acts such as Against Me! and the Gaslight Anthem. That record stands as their only album recorded as a trio after Fraser Allen’s departure; Static Dress’s Sam Ogden stepped in for studio duties, and Jimmy Allen later joined as the permanent drummer.
Two further cover singles arrived in 2022—the Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” and Shakin’ Stevens’ “Merry Christmas Everyone”—before Cold Years completed work on their third album, A Different Life, in 2024. Cut in northern New Jersey, the set delivered some of their most memorable songs yet, among them “Radio,” “Roll with It,” and the explicitly political “Choke.”
Albums
A Different Life
2024
Goodbye To Misery
2022
32
2022
Paradise
2020
Too Far Gone
2020
Northern Blue
2018
What I Lost
2018
Seasons
2018
Singles
