Lain Fallow’s upcoming cassette release isn’t so much a new chapter as it is a way to make sense of the road already traveled. The Brussels-based band, whose sound blends emo and punk with a hardcore edge reminiscent of early Title Fight or The Menzingers, is issuing a tape that merges their debut EP The Path Less Chosen with their latest single Winning Culture.
The physical edition arrives April 13 via a three-way collaboration between Belgian collective Panique! Paniek!, French DIY label Spleencore Records, and Norway’s Slow Down Records.
To mark the release, the band is playing a short three-day run from April 10 to 12, hitting Brussels, Paris, and Gent. Pre-orders are already live on Spleencore’s Bandcamp page.
The lineup includes members of Italian post-hardcore act Amalia Bloom, and the band’s formation has DIY roots typical of the scene. “This band came together kind of randomly,” Charles says. “We all met via a WhatsApp group for finding people to go to shows with in Brussels. Then the first time we met in person we realised we’d all been to the same Birds In Row show a few months prior.”
Their individual musical upbringings reflect how scattered yet connected the European scene has become.
Lollo mentions growing up surrounded by reggae fans in a small town and only discovering punk through the internet. Oz recalls going to local DIY shows in Marche, Italy: “Some of the most memorable shows I attended were in a tiny bar in the middle of nowhere – now long gone, I believe – where bands like Lemuria and Loma Prieta played while touring Europe over a decade ago.”
Charles, originally from Ottawa, compares the scene in Belgium to the more isolating geography of Canada. “Coming from Canada, where you’re lucky if your neighbouring scene is a 5-hour drive away, it’s cool to see that different bands with different styles develop the next city over but are still involved with each other, putting on shows and supporting each other.”
Although none of them are Belgian by birth, they’ve grown into the local scene. “It’s been inspiring to discover how deeply rooted punk is here,” says Tom. “Particularly the strong DIY ethic and the focus on political and communal values – something we really identify with.” Brussels has its hubs – from CHAFF and Café Central to La Mule and Cobra Jaune – but the band also shout out underground labels like Lonercult and artists like Vaag, Burning Kross, Colère, Haemers, and Dad Magic.
Lain Fallow’s lyrical focus tends to reflect those same communal and critical values. The Path Less Chosen deals heavily with emotional fractures and interpersonal disillusionment. “It ended up exploring different facets of emotional strife, whether that’s the turbulence of a crumbling relationship, or the self-questioning inherent to someone leaving your life,” Charles says. Lollo frames the second half of the EP as a “caricature of toxic masculinity” – the blind chase of impossible goals that lead to collapse: “Big boys ‘don’t let fear prevail’ – they boss around cheap labour and suffocate on a mountain.”
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That metaphor isn’t just lyrical. Lollo’s deep dive into mountaineering literature left its mark on the record. “The idea that the protagonist of The Path Less Chosen ends his journey dead of altitude sickness in the ice of K2 while pursuing yet another selfish endeavor seemed particularly fitting. The titular ‘Bottleneck’ is one of the most iconic locations on the K2… The lyrics include references and terminology relating to K2 and high altitude climbing in general.”
Visually, the release builds on those layered meanings. Oz, who handled most of the visual direction, explains: “The tape artwork blends elements from both the EP and Winning Culture, creating a visual bridge between their distinct yet connected themes.
The background images, which I took on the Lithuanian coast about a decade ago, are meant to echo the emotional undercurrents of both projects: navigating relationships while bearing the weight of everyday societal pressure to appear invincible.”
For Winning Culture, the artwork shifts to something more absurd: an early 20th-century auto-polo match. “The chaotic, almost absurd, imagery highlights the pressure to perform and succeed – a visual metaphor for the song in a way.”
That theme continues in the track itself, described by Charles as “a 2020s version of ‘work sucks, I know’.” Winning Culture critiques the contradictions of modern employment: “It’s about being a ‘punk de bureau’: you live in capitalism and whatever education you have has landed you this full-time job – cool.”
Lollo adds: “Even if you’re occasionally proud of your work, you still have to put a face on every day… you’re not about ‘the grind’, you didn’t graduate from a fancy school with accolades and private Facebook groups for picking up rent-controlled leases – we see you, College of Europe grads.”
Oz clarifies they’re not positioning themselves as anti-work. “We’re all foreigners to Belgium and we all moved to Brussels because the opportunities were better than back home, but like everyone else we share the feeling of pressure that capital imposes on those who sell their labour.” Tom adds bluntly: “And we’ve all been fired or let go at least once.”
The EP and single were written over a couple of months, during which the band’s members were drawing inspiration from a range of sources. Oz was reading Dickinson, Whitman, and Calvino. Charles was immersed in films like The Talented Mr Ripley, and its Sinéad O’Connor quote made it onto the EP. Lollo was reading about Ed Viesturs and Reinhold Messner while obsessing over the dark side of alpinism as a global industry.
The cassette, with all this weight behind it, functions as more than a simple reissue. It’s a document of the band’s formation, its reflection on belonging, and the uncomfortable questions that come with performing in both the punk scene and the workforce.
You can find it on Spleencore’s Bandcamp, or catch them live mid-April.
