Before the first notes of Gucked Up even existed, Guck was already a product of chaos and parking lot communion. Guitarist Chappy Hull had just moved to Los Angeles and needed a place to stash his Crate 2×12. That led him to a rehearsal space shared by bassist Andrew Morrill and drummer Kyle Bray, and eventually to synth player Sam Rogich. When April Gerloff joined as vocalist—leaving behind a history in noise and instrumental work—the pieces locked in. One amp storage errand later, and a new kind of noise rock had its foothold in LA.
The result is a record that feels like a panic attack in slow motion and then suddenly fast-forwarded. Gucked Up is out August 29, 2025 on Three One G Records, tracked by Josiah Mazzaschi at Cave Studio, mixed by Rogich, and mastered by Scott Levitin. It will drop digitally and on limited color vinyl.
Inside this mess: a brutal and deadpan track–by–track guided by the band, a loose but generous exposé on LA’s 2025 DIY underbelly, and a short but loud list of the nine bands that rewired Guck’s collective brain.
View this post on Instagram
If you want to know how this kind of band comes to be, there’s really no better place to start than the ABC rehearsal studios parking lot. According to Guck, it’s “the hottest spot in LA for underground musicians,” complete with a barely functional vending machine and the constant chance you’ll meet someone who’ll end up in your next band. Their space is shared with Shoe Shopping and Phony, and surrounded by others like Rearranged Face, Abscam, Buckets, and Lackey. “It’s somehow an amazing place to grow band friendships without being at a show or a bar.”
View this post on Instagram
Then there’s Non Plus Ultra. “Without Non Plus Ultra, there might be no Guck,” they said. It’s more than a venue—it’s a scene hub housing Highland Park TV and a rotating cast of weirdos, volunteers, and creatives, including members of Gylt, Molly Horses, and Shaki. “It’s our favorite place to go, and always provides a great time.”
The bigger picture of LA’s underbelly isn’t a “scene” as much as a support system that never got codified. “The genetic makeup of the LA scene feels very homey,” they explained. “Bands share members and push for each other. It’s common to see a crowd filled with musicians who aren’t playing.”
View this post on Instagram
Outside of the city center, other bands stretch the web: Wazoo, Moxie Beat, acts from the I.E., Pop Hysteria, Ologist, Long Beach freaks—people come out for each other. “It’s great to see how far people will go to make it a good time.”
And there’s Bill Gray. “He’s the ultimate hype man,” they said. “He’s played in one million bands (Rearranged Face, Diode, The Ticks, etc.) and you can not stop him from dancing at your show. The wind beneath our wings.”
When it comes to what shaped their own sound, the list spreads wide and weird. Morrill cites Birthday Party, Ex Models, Butthole Surfers. Rogich goes for Arab on Radar, Wolf Eyes, and B-52s. Bray hits Can, Unwound, and Battles. Hull mentions Amon Duul II, Hella, and Blonde Redhead. April closes it out with Blood Brothers, The Locust, and The VSS.
Guck may have started in a parking lot, but what’s come out of that space sounds like the city melting, and they’re not moving the amp anytime soon.
Let’s jump into their track-by-track rundown for “Gucked Up”:
Gucked Up
This one’s about the difference between performative allyship vs. the reality of someone experiencing actual oppression who is having to fight until they cry.
Taz
Lyrics are about the volatile life of being a poor artist surrounded by other poor artists who are losing their minds to addiction or the abusive climate of the music industry. You kind of stay in denial about how much it’s messing with your mental health. But it’s the only environment that feels familiar, so it’s always where you end up.
Faith Hill Void
Lyrics are about surrender and radical acceptance with on the nose references to submission and defeat with a disgusting street punk vocal pattern. Submitting to police after causing as much chaos as possible. The most insightful thing about the lyrics is the feeling I get when I listen to “No Help” by Trae tha Truth and Z-Ro, I wanted lyrics with a similar lonely aura.
Toxic Neutral
Lyrics are about sneaky evil men. I can’t throw very far also so I compare that to my ability to trust men. I’ll try to spare everyone the trauma dump. Plus, if I say too much about this dude having a bed at a driving school and the terrible predatory things he did to girls under the legal drinking age, he’ll probably have his lawyer brother send me another cease and desist.
Gubar
This one is basically just canned unsolicited old head takes, maybe more than any other song on the album. They want you to feel like they’re the little guy… but they also very inferior to their own belief system.
End of a ETA
Brought to you by my model minority upbringing, greenwashing, and queerbaiting. I had recently watched Fallout, and there’s a storyline about selling doomsday homes — “we are rebranding disaster.” The chorus is my impression of a very terrible man laughing off ruining my life. Which is based off a true experience.
Blue Collar Crime
These lyrics came out of thinking about our country’s nonstop involvement in war and violence, currently my tax dollars funding genocide in Gaza. I’d been thinking about the movie Oppenheimer, “it must feel so bad to fuck it up like you have.” I didn’t love Oppenheimer. It was a bit disorienting to watch that movie where educated dudes navigate their guilt and the reality knowing that marginalized people are the ones paying the price.
Guck Gynasty
Theme here is about not being enough — being completely disintegrated of anything you have to offer, and the resentment that follows.
Human Catapiller
This one’s about global warming and being in LA. The outro lyrics were inspired by Sally Ride’s early research. Had we let the truth about climate change disappoint us early on, maybe we would’ve reacted differently. That might be the case again and again if we don’t get past the denial stage and actually feel how disconnected we are.
