The last word on the lyric sheet is also the trap: “again”. Before Mr. Phylzzz get there, “Over and Over Again” has a mirror that cries, a sparrow kept on the ground, and six hard repetitions of “Same” broken only by “We’re not the same.” The Chicago noise-rock duo do not treat repetition as a clean subject for a single. They make it the room the song cannot leave.
The track and its accompanying video arrived on June 29, 2026, ahead of the band’s coming album “Fear the Lord“, due this fall through Amphetamine Reptile Records. Mr. Phylzzz recorded “Over and Over Again” at Electrical Audio in Chicago with Taylor Hales, then kept the video closer to home, filming it in their own practice space.
The clip was shot by Enrique Lara and edited by Clinton Jacob.
The band have been regular openers at Metro, Thalia Hall, Sleeping Village, and Schubas, and have more recently worked up to headlining their own shows at the Empty Bottle. That local arc matters here, because the next big Chicago date is not just a homecoming. It is a live album recording.
The July run starts July 12 and ends July 20 at the Empty Bottle.
In between, Mr. Phylzzz join the Melvins for two support dates, July 16 in Kansas City and July 17 in St. Louis.
Clinton Jacob’s note on “Over and Over Again” puts the song’s meaning plainly. “I wanted to share some thoughts regarding our new track, “Over and Over Again,” which explores the themes of self-imprisonment and the destructive nature of repeating comfortable, yet stagnant, cycles.”
“The song delves into how we often stay stuck in patterns that lead to nothing,” he continues. “A central metaphor in the lyrics, “called a sparrow a sheep so it would never fly”, represents how people, or even we ourselves, attempt to suppress natural potential under the guise of safety. While the herd feels safe and the sky appears dangerous, keeping a sparrow on the ground destroys its essence. I’ve realized that this is not only a method of external control but also something I have done to myself through negative self-talk.”
The lyrics read like something trying to talk itself out of a corner, then failing on purpose:
“When my mirror speaks / It tends to cry / Contradiction bleeds / Regards to my reply
Now I’m not the kind who wants to walk away / Take it from me I got to get away
Never felt so clean / Till I closed my eyes
Called a sparrow a sheep / So it would never fly
Now I’m not the kind that likes to walk away / Close enough yet so far away
Same / Same / Same / We’re not the same / Same / Same / And over and over again”
“”Over and Over Again” was one of the first songs we made after “Fat Chance” that stuck,” Danny says.
“It was recorded at beloved Chicago studio Electrical Audio with Taylor Hales. I think this track brings with it a kind of “drill it into the ground” energy that the new album has a few moments of. It’s more deliberate choice to drive the riff in but it also has moments where it opens up in the verses and gets a crazed “off the rails” outro. This song has been a great opener for us live and will likely be the first track on the live album.”
That description fits the way the band’s year is built. The song keeps circling a fixed point, while the band are about to spend weeks leaving and returning, running the same routine through different rooms. Clinton sees the track as a warning against comfort. “The track is just about getting stuck and doing things that are comfortable but not healthy,” he says. “Just because it’s safe doesn’t mean it’s good. And I think it sets the tone for this new record as it’s not a safe release. It’s filled with songs that are completely opposite of what we have been doing. I don’t believe in genres or sticking to a sound. That sounds boring. Theres so much im inspired by that I wanna do it all with no restraints and this record definitely shows that.”
The video being shot in the practice space adds a neat pressure point to that idea. It puts the song about repetition and self-imprisonment back inside the room where a band repeats by necessity: play it again, fix the part, play it again, carry it to the next city. Touring breaks that room open physically, but it brings its own loop.
“Tours are a loop of driving, waiting, playing, leaving then repeat,” Clinton says. “It’s not for everyone. I feel like im built for it. I love a routine but it’s a routine where the path is the same just everyday theres a different obstacle to get over. Like maybe the room sounds bad, the show runs late or early, gear messes up, vans break down. It’s a routine of the same but you have to be open to the changes while balancing everyone’s moods and still put on a great show. It honestly sounds like a panic attack waiting to happen for most but it’s really when I feel the most calm. I need chaos to feel sane. If anyone is a doctor and can figure that out for me let me know.”
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Mr. Phylzzz already had one major test of that kind of repetition. In 2023, they were direct support for the Melvins and Boris on the national “Twins of Evil” tour, a seven-week run that circled the United States. It was the band’s first major national support tour. Danny says the first week or so was about figuring out the nuance of the set and what the audience responded to, before the songs settled in live.
The July run builds off that. The Melvins dates were locked in first, then the band added half a week around them so they would not walk in cold. Same size venues, but new rooms with the Melvins. On the Twins of Evil tour, Mr. Phylzzz played the Red Flag in St. Louis with Boris but without the Melvins. Coady Willis was filling in for Dale Crover on that leg, and Coady had another commitment across the country he could not skip.
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Since then, Clinton’s band reels and online clips have changed what happens offstage as well. Danny says that traction has helped immeasurably, especially with booking their own shows and tours. July and most of September will be the band’s last DIY tour stretch now that Joey at Tone Deaf is booking them. The band feel more settled onstage after two months of playing every night, especially in how they handle tension, release, and pace across a set.
Clinton puts that growth in rougher terms. “I think it’s just time and experience. We have written maybe 20 plus songs in-between that time and grinding with tours and recording. That Twins of Evil tour was a real life lesson of “show up or shut up” with hardly any off days and just rinse and repeat night after night. Most people would crumble but It just proved to me more that this is all I wanna do. I was built for this.”
He also credits that Melvins and Boris crowd with widening the band’s reach. “Luckily the Melvins / Boris crowd was super accepting of us and it really expanded our reach like crazy. We connected a lot with people online too with our weird videos and music and that has helped us grow in places like Tulsa where we went from playing for 5 people to well over a 100. I know the hip thing is to say social media is dumb but I love it. I hope more people keep thinking it’s dumb so I can keep filling rooms and selling records.”
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The July 20 Empty Bottle show pulls several threads together. It closes the July run in Chicago, marks the band’s move from regular opener status to hometown headliner in a 400 capacity room that has mattered to them, and becomes the recording site for a new live album tied to the band’s tenth anniversary in 2026.
“The band got signed to AmRep back in 2019 because Tom heard the self released live album “Real Live Suicide”,” Danny says. “We figured for the bands 10th anniversary it’d be fun to make another live album that reflects where we are now. Clinton and I love live albums. We feel that raw energy of phylzzz translates best live. We added new songs from the upcoming album and realized we now have a “killer set”.
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The July 20 bill adds Scarlet Demore, Credit Card from Detroit, and Astral Hand from Milwaukee. Clinton is already hearing the room in his head. “I love the Bottle. Like Dan said it’s just a great crew that cares. No egos just people there for the music and a good show. Like I said before a live record is a risk and this band was built off taking a risk. A studio can’t capture what we do live and I want to capture that in the setting it was meant to be captured in, a small room crammed with people with amps on 10 and blaring vocals and drums that sound like shot guns.”
Then he moves straight to the bill. “The line up is crazy good. Scarlet Demore is easily the best band in Chicago right now who also is just popping off on all aspects. Astral Hand are friends of mine for nearly a decade who are some of the tightest musicians in the game. Credit Card is a force we crossed paths with in Detroit. It’s like Crystal Castles formed a punk band. It’s just gonna be a sick show all together and every single person is nice. It will be an asshole free night! Incredible!”
“Fear the Lord” will follow in the fall through Amphetamine Reptile Records. According to Danny, Tom Hazelmeyer still runs AmRep in a way that keeps the label’s physical side weirdly personal.
“Tom Hazelmeyer runs the record label we are on called Amphetamine Reptile Records,” he says. “The only active bands on the label currently are us and the Melvins. Tom has creative control of the artwork once we give him the name of the album. He makes the artwork for all releases by hand. First he draws the artwork, then he carves it on linocut, then he renders it, prints jackets and stuffs the records by hand. The artwork will be revealed publicly when the album is released. For me I compare it to getting film photos developed, you have an idea of the theme when you press the shutter but then Tom develops it and it comes back from the tank better and more crazed than you could ever imagine. He has full creative control of the album artwork for the band.”
Clinton is fine leaving that part untouched. “I’ve known Tom for ten years now. I’d trust him with anything at this point. I leave the art fully to him. He doesn’t tell me how to play and I don’t tell him what to create for the art. It’s a perfect working relationship. Plus I’d honestly be stupid to do so. He’s an incredible artist and I can barely write in cursive.”
September then stretches the record’s build across nearly a month. Danny says the band have not been east or west since the Melvins tour, and that people beyond their Midwest circuit have been asking them to come through for a few years. The whole run matters, but Asheville and Denver stand out. In Asheville, they play with JD Pinkus, who Clinton played with solo in 2024 on Buzz’s acoustic tour and has since become close with. Danny is looking forward to properly meeting him. In Denver, they reconnect with their friends Moon Pussy.
Clinton went for the full map rather than a polite album-cycle run. “Its been a mintue since we got to do an east coast proper tour and I thought well why not hit every single possible city which ended up being almost 30 days of shows. We get a ton of request for east coast and we are filling that obligation and so far with our booking agent it came together very fast. I say this with my whole chest that I’m excited for every single date. I’m excited to see everyone. We have a great crew and this just means we can spend more time being invested in the shows and seeing the bands then running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”
For a two-piece, this is a dense year: the single, the practice-space video, Melvins support, the Empty Bottle live album, an AmRep album, then the September run. Danny says it is still only the start of what they want. “It’s really scratching the surface of all the things we want to do and the scale we want to do it at. We also are extremely fortunate to have people in our corner that have helped us even get to this point. Tom and Buzz especially. We would be remiss to not mention all that they have done and continue to do for us. We are also grateful to have grown to the point where we can have a merch person with us which is a huge relief and a financial asset for the band.”
Clinton’s version starts ten years back, with nobody in the room. “I’ve been doing this for 10 years. I remember driving 12 hours to play New York for literally NO ONE. NO ONE! Not even the sound guy and getting done and being thrilled to have the chance to play. I love music so much and what I do that I knew even back then eventually people would listen. Now ten years later we have tons of people who do care and like Dan said people like Tom taking a chance on the band and people like Buzz taking a chance on us for tour just proves whatever im doing, im doing it right. I can’t thank them and or merch king Enrique enough for believing in us and putting up with us. And now with Joey at Tone Deaf Touring we can do this even bigger and better than before. This is honestly light work for us right now, Now we just gotta show up and do what we did since day one play like 10,000 people are watching even if theres not a soul there.”
“Over and Over Again” is available through Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and YouTube. Mr. Phylzzz are online at mrphylzzz.com, Instagram, and Facebook. AmRep are online through Shoxop, Instagram, and Facebook.
July tour:
7/12 Woodstock, IL @ the Records Department
7/13 Madison, WI @ Gamma Ray
7/14 Minneapolis, MN @ Cloudland Theatre
7/15 Lincoln, NE @ Duffys
7/16 Kansas City @ Recordbar, w/ the Melvins
7/17 St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House, w/ the Melvins
7/18 Logansport, IN @ Record Farm, w/ Effigies
7/19 Louisville, KY @ Mag Bar
7/20 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle, live album recording
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