Boston hardcore punk four-piece BILLY are dropping their new 3-track promo “Hell Is When I’m With You” on September 18. Recorded and mixed with Alex Allinson from the Bridge, the EP follows their January 2025 five-track “Permanent Void,” a record that marked the start of their sound: hard, tight, anxious, pissed-at-the-world punk and hardcore.
“We’ve been playing out for the past two years on the material featured on ‘Permanent Void’,” the band said, describing it as “the formation of our sound.” That EP was released on 12” vinyl and remains part of their live sets.
The new EP carries three tracks: “Terminal Frustration,” “Hell Is When I’m With You,” and “Devil at the Door.” Written earlier this year, the songs reflect a band moving into its third year while slowing down slightly and reassessing what being in a band means. “Life gets in the way sometimes and we’ve been sorting through what it takes to be a band, to write and release songs, to make art, to perform and be grateful for anyone who supports our local scene,” they explained.
Jerry Vanderpool put it bluntly: “These new songs on ‘Hell Is When I’m With You’ are that progression in our style and perspective. But still very true to the original BILLY themes, still very pissed off punk and hardcore. The new songs are mostly about not allowing your rage to dictate your actions. Our biggest influence is that everlasting desire to smash your head directly through a brick wall.”
BILLY formed in Allston, Boston, and remain active in the New England underground. They’ve been steady fixtures at O’Briens, the Silhouette, Ralph’s Diner in Worcester, the Middle East in Cambridge, and other DIY spaces. They fit in equally with punk, hardcore, metal, and noise rock bills, sharing stages with bands like Death Defier, Foxfires, No More Youth, Low Tide, Latch, the Promised End, Psychic Weight, Knock Over City, Deprogrammer Cult, Bedtimemagic, Miracle Blood, KO Queen, Held Captive, and Unhinged. Touring opportunities already placed them alongside Comeback Kid, Defeater, Orthodox, Retract, Halo Bite, Jealous Mind, Crime In Stereo, Spaced, Gumskab, Sophisticated Adult, PUSCH, and Selfish Act.
Their new release comes with a short run of shows this fall: September 24 at the Silhouette in Allston with Helldog, Vicegrip, and I.C.B.M.; September 26 at Ralph’s Diner in Worcester with Choke Out, Held Captive, Foxfires, and Sue; September 28 at Thirsty Firsty in Lowell with Fashion Week, Born Cursed, and Bedtimemagic; and November 7 at Tafetta Music Hall in Lowell, supporting Drive-By Bukkake’s 20-year celebration.
As the band put it, “Even if the world around us can be daunting, we do this hardcore punk stuff because it is a release.” For BILLY, “Hell Is When I’m With You” is that release, stripped down to three songs and grounded in the same anger and groove that defined their first steps.
