SCOWL is back to shake things up. Their new single “Special” kicks down the door to their latest chapter, blending hardcore ferocity with a rebellious flair just in time for Halloween.
Dropping under their fresh deal with Dead Oceans, this track tears apart horror clichés and lands a punch right to the gut of the ‘Final Girl’ trope. And with Kat Moss at the helm, the song’s energy feels like the audio equivalent of grabbing your collar and pulling you into the mosh pit.
As Moss puts it, “‘Special’ is a kamikaze.” The song is driven by the brutal question, “What do you really want?”—a challenge directed not just to the audience, but a reflection of Moss’s own internal quest.
The answer is laid bare: “I want to feel alive.” Moss’s voice cuts through with raw honesty, blending biting vulnerability and rage, a perfect mirror to the high-octane guitars and thrashing drums. The track itself plays out like a battle, with each verse pushing against the limits of both sound and emotion, all while packing that same frenetic punch SCOWL fans have come to expect.
Produced by Grammy-nominated Will Yip—who worked on the band’s 2023 EP Psychic Dance Routine—and mixed by Rich Costey (known for his work with FIONA APPLE, DEFTONES, and VAMPIRE WEEKEND), “Special” embodies a sonic shift for the Bay Area band.
It takes their established hardcore roots and fuses them with a danceable, almost demonic energy. Think of early NO DOUBT colliding with a chainsaw, with an undercurrent of horror that rips through the record.
Directed by Silken Weinberg, the music video feels like a love letter to every slasher film you’ve ever seen but with a SCOWL twist. Starting with what feels like a playful tour memory—rolling dice and chucking them at band members—the tone quickly shifts. Moss draws the short straw, and from that moment, it’s game over.
As her bandmates don menacing Purge-like animal masks, the video plunges into the depths of horror, casting Moss as the ‘Final Girl’—except this time, she’s not playing the victim. SCOWL subverts the entire trope, turning it into a chaotic, brutal, and utterly irresistible punk show.
Since their 2019 debut, SCOWL has consistently defied expectations.
Floral motifs and soft imagery may appear in their artwork, but their sound is anything but delicate. Whether it’s opening for LIMP BIZKIT at Madison Square Garden or smashing their way through a nearly sold-out U.S. tour, SCOWL continues to push the boundaries of what it means to be a hardcore band. Their blend of punk, hardcore, and alt melodies have earned them spots on the stage at Coachella, Reading, Leeds, and Sick New World.
Now, with “Special” in their arsenal, SCOWL is gearing up to make 2025 their year. Signing to Dead Oceans—home to indie powerhouses like PHOEBE BRIDGERS and MITSKI—is a signal that the band is ready to push their sound even further.
