IN SHORTS #55 📢 punk/metal news roundup; January 9th

Illinois emotive, post and math rock tinged emo rockers AMERICAN FOOTBALL have premiered a new video for their new song “Silhouettes”, the lead single off the group’s upcoming album, American Football (LP3).

Blackened death metallers BEHEMOTH have dropped a new music video for “Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica”, off the band’s latest release, “I Loved You At Your Darkest“. Watch below and catch them live on tour with At The Gates and Wolves in The Throne Room.

01/10 Frankfurt, GER – Batschkapp
01/11 Munich, GER – Tonhalle
01/12 Prague, CZE – Forum Karlin
01/13 Vienna, AUT – Arena
01/15 Zurich, SWI – Komplex 457
01/16 Milano, ITA – Alcatraz
01/17 Lyon, FRA – Le Transbordeur
01/18 Barceolna, SPA – Razzmatazz
01/19 Madrid, SPA – La Riviera
01/21 Toulouse, FRA – Le Bikini
01/22 Paris, FRA – Le Bataclan
01/23 Oberhausen, GER – Turbinenhalle
01/24 Berlin, GER – Huxleys
01/25 Copenhagen, DEN – Vega
01/26 Stockholm, SWE – Annexet
01/27 Oslo, NOR – Rockeeler
01/29 Helsinki, FIN – The Circus
01/30 Tampere, FIN – Pakkahuone
02/01 Hamburg, GER – Grosse Freiheit 36
02/02 Utrecht, NET – Tivoli
02/03 Brussels, BEL – AB
02/04 Esch-sur-Alzette, LUX – Rockhal
02/06 Bristol, UK – Marble Factory
02/07 Birmingham, UK – O2 Institute
02/08 London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
02/09 Manchester, UK – O2 Ritz
02/10 Dublin, IRE – Vicar Street
02/11 Glasgow, UK – QM Union

Powerful melodic hardcore punk act SATELLES have premiered a new music video for their song Abandoned Kingdom. The footages are reflecting on the current protests against the slave-law (Times, Euronews, Guardian, BBC, etc.), and the band wanted not only to documentate these events, but also to show the world that they still resist. Watch and share!

Shoegazin’ rockers EARACHE are streaming their ne w dreamy record “Last” on Black Wire Records / Lacklustre Records! . Started in Canberra in 2016, Earache combines drum machines with shoegaze guitars, driving bass lines, and girl/boy vocals, resulting in luscious, introspective, and dreamy pop songs.

Metallic hardcore vets INTEGRITY have premiered a new single called “All Death Is Mine”. It was premiered on the Adult Swim website as part of their singles series.

Punk rocker Kevin Seconds (7 SECONDS) is continuing his Songs For Years 2019 series with 2 more tracks ‘Mousey’ and ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’. Listen below and check out the previous offerings HERE or in our #InShorts series.

Stockholm post metal / post rock act A SWARM OF THE SUN will release their fourth album on January 11, 2019. The album is titled “The Woods”, and is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2015-release “The Rifts”. “The Woods” expands its predecessor’s signature sound of chilling, emotional and sometimes unsettling post-rock into even deeper levels of haunting and unnerving soundscapes. Hear the full thing below.

Madison, Wisconsin punk rockers MASKED INTRUDER have released a new single in support of their new album III, their third full-length and debut release on Pure Noise Records. Check out “No Case” below.

For the new album, the band – Intruder Blue, Intruder Green, Intruder Red and Intruder Yellow – recruited lead producer/engineer Roger Lima (who also plays bass in Less Than Jake) as well as co-producer Mike Kennerty (who plays guitar in some band called The All-American Rejects) and recorded the album at Lima’s studio, The Moat House in Gainesville, Florida.

“Our songs aren’t just about the feelings and situations that they describe but they’re supposed to hopefully help other people think about and reflect about their own situations,” Intruder Blue summarizes.

Whether it comes to stealing hearts or wallets, Masked Intruder have upped their game on Masked Intruder III and it seems as if even Officer Bradford can’t hold them back, although we’re sure he’ll try.

Decibel Magazine is now streaming “Null And Void,” the new single by Nashville, Tennessee-based hardcore/powerviolence duo THETAN. The band ends a four-year release hiatus with their second full-length, Abysmal, which will be issued February 1st via Anti-Corporate Music. GO HERE to check it out and hear another new track called ‘Singularity’ below.

The members of THETAN offer of the “Null And Void” track, “This song was recorded on two separate occasions. The first version has a long intro and the words are a little different. Nobody may ever hear that version. You’re welcome. The context of the song has everything to do with how we interact in the 21st century. We have grown to be incredibly withdrawn, cynical people. I am guilty of this as well. As communication evolves into a more open forum, instant validation from strangers takes presence over inter-personal relationships. We hold so much of ourselves back in fear of not being accepted by a mass of people who we may never meet face to face. In return, we are drip fed bits and pieces of insight into celebrity lives so that we have something to aspire to be, while losing focus of the people we actually are. Bullshit goes in, and Bullshit comes out.”

With their debut of “Null And Void,” Decibel offers,

“THETAN lose their minds for about twenty-three seconds before settling into a feedback-written breakdown driven by pounding drums and shrieked vocals – it works extremely well in the context of the album, but it’s also a killer piece of work on its own.”

THETAN’s Abysmal will see release on digital and animated-etched LP on February 1st via Anti-Corporate Music. Find preorders at the label webshop HERE and at Bandcamp where the song “Singularity” can also be streamed. The vinyl version of the record features animated vinyl etchings done at Black Matter Mastering, fully complimenting the sonic chaos.

THETAN spawned from the remnants of Nashville hardcore band Sanctions in 2011. Opting to forgo finding a new guitar player, and move forward as a two-piece, they recorded their first EP, Welcome To Whine Country, a mere three months after their first band practice. Since then, the outfit has released an LP titled Laughed At By The Gods, five split releases including splits with Bleed The Pigs, Bible Thumper, and others, as well as several singles, compilation tracks, and more.

Carrying on their legacy of creating point-blank, depressive, powerviolent hardcore, THETAN delivers Abysmal, deploying eighteen pulverizing songs of abusive hardcore in just as many minutes. Abysmal is an intense offering which sees the band simultaneously exploring new territory with more nuanced stylings, though never straying from the pulverizing delivery that they have adopted for the past years. fans of Nails, Weekend Nachos, Dead In The Dirt, Hatred Surge, Die Choking, and the like should investigate the blasting ways of Abysmal.

New explosive split beetween two of the most intresting screamo/post hardcore band form northern Italy, Milan’s own RADURA and Bolzano’s flowers&shelters has been released online. Check out the full thing below. For Fans of: Suis la Lune, Raein, Shizune and A Saddest Landscape

New York State’s own melodic punks, SUCH GOLD and now Brooklyn resident, KOJI return to the UK next week, kicking off an extensive tour that hits every corner of the isle throughout January. Support on all shows comes from Norwich DIY-punks, Ducking Punches.

Currently touring in support of their, Deep In A Hole EP, out now through Bird Attack Records, SUCH GOLD are a household name when it comes to punk rock. Having toured the world relentlessly, the band have built a solid fanbase on every continent, with the UK becoming a second home for the band.

KOJI, who emerged from the same Pennsylvania DIY punk and hardcore scene that gave birth to Title Fight, Code Orange, and Balance and Composure, is best known for his splits with mid-west post-hardcore and emo favorites, La Dispute and Into It. Over It.

The American born artist and activist, will be accompanied by a full band throughout the whole tour, before heading to mainland Europe for solo headline shows. With new music set for release through No Sleep Records, 2019 sees a reinvigorated KOJI.

Speaking on the upcoming dates Andrew ‘Koji’ Shiraki stated “I have been playing shows in the UK and Europe since 2007. I’ve toured there with Into It. Over It., Geoff Rickly of Thursday, and Bob Nanna of Braid/Hey Mercedes, but now, I’m absolutely thrilled to be coming back to the UK with some of my best friends in music, Such Gold, before heading to the mainland again for my headline shows.”

17 JAN – Broadcast, Glasgow UK
18 JAN – Star And Garter, Manchester UK
19 JAN – The Exchange, Bristol UK
20 JAN – Redrum, Stafford UK
21 JAN – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes UK
22 JAN – Corporation, Sheffield UK
23 JAN – The Flapper, Birmingham UK
24 JAN – Anvil, Bournemouth UK
25 JAN – Frog & Fiddle, Cheltenham UK
26 JAN – Hobo’s, Bridgend UK
27 JAN – Cobblestones, Bridgwater UK
28 JAN – UCA, Canterbury UK
29 JAN – Komedia, Brighton UK
30 JAN – Boston Music Rooms, London UK

With their new album, titled “Remove The Control”, due out on March 1st via Indelirium Records, Modena, Italy-based hardcore/metal group BROWBEAT are beginning to tease their pummelling new tracks! A force to be reckoned with since 1998, the quintet are pleased to serve up a hearty taste of their upcoming new music with the lead single, “When The Profit Kills”. Pre-order of the album available HERE.

Speaking of the new tune, the band says: “‘When The Profit Kills’ is probably the best example of what we are today. A mix between old and new generation of hardcore music with metal influences, modern and granitic music elements. For fans of Hatebreed, Lionheart and Biohazard”.

2019 sees MONO head into their 20th anniversary – and they show no signs of stopping. 2018 saw the band personally invited by Robert Smith to perform at his Meltdown Festival curation in London, where they sold out Queen Elizabeth Hall almost as fast as the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Deftones sold out their intimate shows at Royal Festival Hall. It was recognition of an artist revered amongst their peers, and MONO duly created one of the stand-out performances of the festival. Following on from their successful pre-release tour around Europe in late 2018, the band will present new album Nowhere Now Here in January 2019 and embark on their 20th anniversary year by performing their classic Hymn to the Immortal Wind album in full on the main stage at Roadburn Festival in Tilburg this April, accompanied by the Jo Quail Quartet.

Joining them on the road are artists who complement the heights and depths that their music reaches to. Arabrot create True Norwegian Art Rock and deliver a musical expression quite like no one else. Jo Quail is a one-woman cello ensemble, whose looped compositions redefine what classical instrumentation can mean within a heavy context.

14/04 – DE Bochum, Rotunde
15/04 – DE Berlin, BiNuu
16/04 – PL Gdansk, B90
17/04 – PL Warsaw, Hydrozagadka
18/04 – PL Krakow, Zet Pe Te
19/04 – CZ Prague, Underdogs
20/04 – AT Vienna, Szene * no Arabrot
21/04 – HU Budapest. Durer Kert * no Jo Quail
23/04 – BG Sofia, Mixtape5
25/04 – HR Zagreb, Mochvara
26/04 – SI Ljubljana, Kino Siska * no Arabrot
27/04 – IT Bologna, TPO
28/04 – CH Zurich, Bogen F
29/04 – DE Munich, Strom
30/04 – DE Karlsruhe, Jubez
02/05 – DE Leipzig, UT Connewitz
03/05 – BE Arlon, Aralunaires
04/05 – UK Brighton, The Haunt
05/05 – UK Leicester, Handmade Festival
06/05 – UK Manchester, Gorilla

Canadian southern rockish post hardcore punk act CANCER BATS has premiered a new track and video titled “Inside Out.” The song will be featured on a split 7″ with BLEED FROM WITHIN.

“‘Inside Out’ is the one and only b-side we have from ‘The Spark That Moves’ sessions. We kept it off the album because we knew it had legs and could be a stand-alone track to help propel the record for another year of touring the world! Our good bud Sid Tang shot footage for us at our first two shows celebrating 10 years of ‘Hail Destroyer’ in Chinda and on a few Ontario dates in December. This video is a collaboration of all those epic shows. It showcases us touring ‘The Spark That Moves’ from the day it was released until the end of 2018.”

Vegan straight edge vets EARTH CRISIS are teaming up with FLorida’s metallic hardcore band ECOSTRIKE for a brief tour in May.

5/3 Boston, MA @ Once Ballroom
5/4 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bazaar
5/5 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church

Here are the rest of EARTH CRISIS shows for this year, all of them including SECT!

3/6 Tokyo Shilbuya @ GAME
3/7 Nagoya @ 3STAR IMAIKE
3/8 Osaka @ SOCORE FACTORY
3/9 Shizuoka Numazu @ POCO
3/10 Tokyo Shinjuku @ ACB

Post hardcore rockers THRICE have premiered a new video for “Hold Up A Light”, off their latest effort “Palms”.

Alberta, Canada blackened grind legion WAKE announce new tour dates that begin on April 2 in Chicago, IL and lead the band on a crushing path of destruction for 17 days. “We’re beyond pumped for another round of misery rites with all our US/Canadian friends,” vocalist Kyle Ball exclaims. “Unearth the corpses!” With an appearance at the highly coveted Decibel Metal & Beer Fest in Philadelphia, WAKE are poised to deliver the bludgeoning, dark terror of their critically acclaimed 2018 album, Misery Rites.

4/2 – Chicago, IL, Subterranean Downstairs
4/3 – Rock Island, IL, Rock Island Brewing
4/4 – Detroit, MI, Sanctuary
4/5 – Toronto, ON, Bovine Sex Club
4/6 – Montreal, QC Turbo Haus
4/7 – Quebec City, QC, L’anti Bar & Spectacles
4/8 – New Haven, CT, Cafe 9
4/9 – Brooklyn, NY, Saint Vitus
4/10 – Boston, MA, O’Brien’s
4/11 – Montclair, NJ, Meatlocker
4/13 – Philadelphia, PA, Decibel Metal & Beer Fest, The Fillmore
4/14 – Philadelphia, PA, Decibel Metal & Beer Fest, The Fillmore
4/15 – Washington, DC, Atlas Brew Works
4/16 – Atlanta, GA, The Bakery
4/17 – New Orlean, LA, Santos
4/18 – Austin, TX, Lost Well
4/19 – Dallas, TX, Wits End
4/20 – Denver, CO, NCRC

Few metal heads would say the name WAKE isn’t synonymous with “relentless”. Over the last decade, consistent ethics, back-to-back tours, and a veritable stream of releases have turned this humble grinding metal outfit into a Canadian institution.

Misery Rites, WAKE’s sophomore album, delivers nine thunderously crushing songs and takes a harsh, introspective, and shattering look into the deep, interdimensional corners of intimate struggle. Vocalist Kyle Ball explains, “Misery Rites is a concept that contains personal struggle with depression, addiction and isolation. It also follows a theme of cycles, the main cycle being the metaphorical killing of the person you hate being only to eventually end up back in the same place, just to start the cycle again.” WAKE face their inner torment with fury and weave dark, caustic guitar playing and bludgeoning drums to create the raw, dark terror throughout Misery Rites.

Misery Rites was recorded, mixed, and mastered in 2017 with Dave Otero at Flatline Audio (KHEMMIS, PRIMITIVE MAN, COBALT). WAKE guitarist Rob LaChance reveals their vision for Misery Rites; “musically, the vision of the album was to take what we did on Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow and make it darker and more oppressing.” LaChance continues, “I think having Dave Otero on production helped capture a lot of what we were going for. Dave is a very talented guy and one of the best engineers in the game right now. Recording in Denver also made it easy for us to have our good friend Ethan McCarthy (PRIMITIVE MAN, VERMIN WOMB) do vocals on a few tracks”.

From early tours leaning on nothing but the DIY release of Surrounded By Human Filth, to multiple Maryland Deathfest appearances, and European tours with Relapse Records artists PRIMITIVE MAN, they released LPs via the inimitable Nerve Altar records. Logging tens of thousands of miles alone in the middle of the USA or with a host of America’s best heavy bands, WAKE have proved that over the course of the decade, their workload and fury are never-ending. After releasing Misery Rites with Translation Loss Records to critical acclaim, a full US outing with Season Of Mist artists WITHERED and various festival appearances, WAKE carry on the same as usual in 2019 and beyond – scorning the weak, ignoring the trends, and digging heels into the road.

Misery Rites has received high praise from Noisey, Decibel, Revolver, Exclaim! and more. Misery Rites charted at #3 on Canadian national and college radio.

WAKE are represented by Translation Loss Records, Perfect World PR, and Heavy Talent. WAKE are endorsed by Vater, Pearl, Gator, Orange, and Lace Pickups.

Danish punk rock band OUT OF BOUNDS are releasing their debut EP “Eat, Sleep & Greed” January 28th. Striving to create honest music and drawing on a myriad of influences in the 90’ punk rock genre, the band have spent years creating something that they find to be unique. One of the new tracks dubbed “Unnecessary Greed” has been unveiled online below.

Eat, Sleep & Greed contains four of our songs – There among the titletrack, Out Of Bounds, which is a re-recording of our first demo. The songs vary between the fast-classic-straight-forward-punk kinda vibe, to a more quiet, detailed and playful beats and melodies. For the band, the EP is partly about the frustration of modern society, feeling lost, alone and isolated mixed with personal issues.

Our background in the Northern region of Scandinavia (Aalborg to be exact) has made us somewhat isolated, at least in this part of Denmark. We have worked with two different labels (5FeetUnderRecords, DK and Entes Anomicos, DE) across Europe for this release.

Formed in early 2002 in Marshalltown, Iowa, MODERN LIFE IS WAR went on to release four full length albums: My Love. My Way. (2003), Witness (2005), Midnight in America (2007), and Fever Hunting (2013). Like a lot of bands, they have been through many highs and lows. Broken Vans, breakups, reunions, injuries, tours, lineup changes, mental illness, peaks, valleys, misery and general confusion. The members of the band value creativity, self-expression and independent thought and do their best to represent that with their music and lyrics. Along the way they have developed a wildly supportive cult of supporters who allow the band to keep traveling and recording. June 2018 saw the band announce “Tribulation Worksongs” an ongoing singles series which to date has seen the release of Volumes 1 and 2, with the next 2 volumes due in 2019. March 2019 sees the band touring Australia for the very first time, with Sydney’s Homesick joining them on all dates. Tickets on sale Thursday January 10.

MODERN LIFE IS WAR AUSTRALIAN TOUR MARCH 2019 With special guests Homesick

Wednesday March 6 – Crowbar, Brisbane
Thursday March 7 – Small Ballroom, Newcastle
Friday March 8 – Factory Floor, Sydney
Saturday March 9 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Sunday March 10 – Crown and Anchor, Adelaide

Columbus, Ohio based post-rock band, THE END OF THE OCEAN, shared their latest single “homesick” today. The track is the third featured off of their upcoming sophomore full-length, “-aire“, which marks their first new album since 2012. “homesick” builds softly with delicate keys and shimmering guitars, bringing the listener to the sort of explosive and emotional payoff that has become the band’s signature. Clocking in at just over seven minutes, “homesick” is one of the longest songs on the album and incorporates all of the expansive tendencies that The End Of The Ocean thrive on. “-aire” was produced by Mike Watts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Glassjaw) and will be released by Rude Records in partnership with Equal Vision Records on January 18th 2019. You can pre-order “-aire” now!

Speaking on the track Kevin Shannon (Guitar) and Tara Mayer (Keys) say:

“Life is a series of places you go to, be it emotionally or physically. The experience of being homesick for us is more of a deep ache to revisit a certain time, to experience an encounter for the first time all over again, to feel the flurry of emotions and feelings of our previous selves. This song is our hymn to our homesickness”.

After reaching a breaking point following the release of their highly praised 2011 debut full length, “Pacific-Atlantic”, the band had to pump the breaks for fear of tearing themselves apart. With so much going on in their personal lives, Tara Mayer (keys) says that they needed to “give ourselves a chance to hurt so that we could have the chance to heal” before even thinking about another release. The past few years forced the band to come to terms with their own humanity and mortality, as well as that of their bandmates and friends. Once they were finally in a place with their personal lives that allowed them to focus on new music, the collaborative experience of writing that would become their next album, “-aire”, ended up being a big part of their healing process. This undertaking forged a bond that is stronger than ever between Kevin Shannon (Guitar), Trish Chisholm (Guitar), Tara Mayer (Keys), Jason Han (Bass), and Wes Jackson (Drums), who make up The End Of The Ocean.

“-aire” will be released in January of 2019 on Equal Vision Records. It balances rich, thoughtful melodic passages, high-energy riff-wielding and truly epic climatic outpourings. The band has always been championed for their maelstrom of nostalgia, hope, beauty, melancholy, chaos and tranquility. Fans will experience a bigger, bolder version of that tempest with its release.

Punk rock vets MILLENCOLIN have dropped the second single off of the band’s upcoming new album SOS, scheduled for Feb 15th release via Epitapth Records. The new track is called “Nothing” and you can check out its official music video below.

New York, New York-based ambient guitar/bass only post-rock influenced duo BRAVE THE WATERS recently announced their second album, Chapter II: Days of Solitude which will see release on February 1st. The album is the groups follow up to their 2015 debut, Chapter I: Dawn of Days. Chapter II: Days of Solitude will appeal to fans of the group’s core influences which the bands cite as largely being inspired by Pink Floyd, Mogwai, Anathema, Sigur Ros, and Sun Kil Moon.

Brave the Waters consists of New York metal scene veterans Tom Anderer (2018 live bass for Artificial Brain at times) and Rick Habeeb who’ve spent years building up musical chemistry together in groups such as doom metal outfit Grey Skies Fallen and experimental deathgrind outfit Buckshot Facelift which is fronted by Artificial Brain vocalist Will Smith.

Like their prior works, the new album is built upon a hybrid improvised and carefully written approach that layers the duo’s talents into lush soundscapes which mirror the feeling of winter upon us and tap into feelings of solitude, mourning, self-reflection, hope, and solace. All electric guitar was improvised by Rick Habeeb and supported by written acoustic guitar and bass from Tom Anderer with a more structured approach to the compositions this time on Chapter II: Days of Solitude.

666-Pack is the impending new full-length from Austrian crossover thrashers INSANITY ALERT. In advance of its release, today the band is pleased to unveil the official lyric video for “The Body Of The Christ Is The Parasite.” Check it out below. If you missed it, sample “Welcome To Hell” as well as the band’s video for “All Mosh / No Brain” right below as well.

Forged in Innsbruck in 2011 and influenced by the likes of SOD, DRI, Suicidal Tendencies, Nuclear Assault, Bones Brigade, Municipal Waste, and Toxic Holocaust, INSANITY ALERT are the kind of people who know what to bring to a party: a big dose of humor with a dash of darkness, party tunes, and a six pack. It’s these ingredients that make up the basis of the band’s third full-length. A relentless, twenty-one-track ripper, 666-Pack brings the classic spirit of speed metal’s salad days back with savage metal precision. Ultra-catchy riffs, vicious vocals, and empowering gang vocals are packed into short, sharp rapid-fire attacks delivering everything great about thrash in spades.

666-Pack was produced and mixed by Toni “Meloni” Loitsch (Die Toten Hosen, Silbermond, H-Blockx) at Nautilus Sounds Studio, mastered by Dan Randall (Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Ghoul, Cannabis Corpse) at Mammoth Sound Mastering and comes wrapped in the gruesome cover creation of Mark Riddick (Rotting Christ, Horrendous, Revocation, etc.).

Hailed for their, “screeching solos, huge guitar riffs, and a battery assault of drums, all providing vocalist Heavy Kevy the chance to shriek his brains out in a massively effective way,” by Punk News, INSANITY ALERT has confirmed a string of festival and headlining dates for 2019 with more to be confirmed in the coming weeks. The run sees the band making appearances at Tauanus Metal Fest, Vienna Metal Meeting, Aargh Festival, Obscene Extreme, Headache Inside Festival, and more. See all confirmed dates below.

1/31/2019 Juha West – Stuttgart, DE
2/01/2019 Gaswerk – Winterthur, CH
2/02/2019 Treibhaus – Innsbruck, AT
2/22/2019 Kunstverein – Nürnberg, DE
2/23/2019 Club Vaudeville – Lindau, DE
3/14/2019 Mondo Bizarro – Rennes, FR
3/15/2019 Liévin Metal Fest – Liévin, FR
3/16/2019 La Niche – Dommarien, FR
4/12/2019 Taunus Metal Fest – Oberursel, DE
5/02/2019 Rock ‘N Eat – Lyon, FR
5/03/2019 Les Rhinos Féroces Festival – Montaigu, FR
5/04/2019 Usine À Musique – Toulouse, FR
5/05/2019 Secret Place – Montpellier, FR
5/11/2019 Vienna Metal Meeting – Vienna, AT
6/20/2019 Aargh Festival – Uttenhofen, DE (Exact Date TBA)
7/03/2019 Obscene Extreme – Trutnov, CZ (Exact Date TBA)
7/19/2019 Headache Inside Festival – Ahlimbsmühle, DE (Exact Date TBA)

Legendary emotive post hardcore / punk rock act JAWBREAKER has announced some NYC shows. GO HERE to see the details.

Mike Shaw, guitarist of NY hardcore outfit MINDFORCE, was injured on after being “hit head on by an oncoming vehicle.” GO HERE to see more details and support his fundraiser.

Garage punk rockers THE COATHANGERS are teasing their new album The Devil You Know (out on March 8th) with a new single called “Bimbo”. Watch the official music video below.

“‘Bimbo’ is a bittersweet note on love, self preservation, and letting go. It came together naturally and was one of the easiest songs to be written for the new record. In its vocal duality, ‘Bimbo’ highlights the unique vocal textures of Steph and my voices. It tells two sides of the story but still feels uplifting and positive. An acceptance of things the way they are.

The video was shot on our last European tour by us and our fellow road warrior Mackenzie Sutch. We spend a large part of our lives on the road and it felt right to make the first video off the new record a small documentation of that. Tour is bittersweet as well. It can be dreamy and harsh at the same time. Shot mostly in Spain and Portugal, the video for “Bimbo” is a lovely memory of a complex emotional and physical journey. The video was edited by our good friend Nacho Montero from Madrid.”

– Julia Kugel, guitarist/vocalist

In the bygone era of arena rock, concerts were a way of promoting records. Punk challenged that notion by making rock a communal experience again: the boundaries between performer and punter were blurred anyone could start a band and records were no longer the definitive statement of an artist’s vision, but rather a way of promoting visceral and participatory live shows. In their early years, Atlanta trio The Coathangers were very much of the classic punk ethos—the band was a live entity, and the records were merely a document of the charisma and chaos projected from stage. But after 12 years of relentlessly touring on a steady flow of EPs and LPs, The Coathangers finally took a moment to recalibrate before diving into the creation of their sixth studio album The Devil You Know. After a summer break of reflection and reassessment, the band regrouped to make an album that captures all the vitality of their early years while honing their individual strengths into new communal achievements. It’s a record that takes their established takes on vitriolic punk, playful house-party anthems, and heartworn ballads and melds them into a new sound that retains all their former live show glories while revealing a new level of songwriting and nuance.

“The writing process was done with an open heart,” says guitarist/vocalist Julia Kugel. “Everything that came before had to go away. Whatever hang-up, whatever thing we were holding onto, it had to go away. And we started there, at ground zero.” This may sound like the band was going through some Hüsker Dü or Fleetwood Mac-level personal drama, but the reality is less gritty and salacious. The individual members had merely become entrenched in their way of doing things. Kugel excelled at the melodic pop songs. Drummer/vocalist Stephanie Luke belted out the gritty rock tunes. Bassist/vocalist Meredith Franco drove the post-punk and no-wave angles of the band. With each album, you could hear the individual songwriters honing their style. But with The Devil You Know, it feels like we’re hearing the first Coathangers record written as a true unit. Inspired and emboldened by their experience recording Nosebleed Weekend, the band returned to Valentine Recording Studios in Laurel Canyon with Nic Jodoin, who pushed them into increasingly layered and lush sonic territories.

There’s no better demonstration of this reconfigured sound than in the opening track “Bimbo”, where Kugel’s signature sweetness propels the verses while Luke’s shout-along hooks and hammer-fisted drumming dominates the chorus. It’s a pop masterpiece that touches on all the classic Coathanger traits, but delivers them all at once in a fully realized way. “I don’t care what our previous image was. That’s not us now,” Kugel says. “I feel like this is an introduction to what we are now.” And that current manifestation of The Coathangers finds the individual voices banding together, as on the throbbing rocker “Crimson Telephone”. There’s a hint of The Pixies’ duality of seduction and fury in this critique of social media’s grip on our lives, a suitable reflection of both the allure and the frustration of this new cultural phenomenon. That beauty-and the-beast dynamic comes into play again on “Step Back”, a siren song of staccato riffs, bass grooves, shrieking noise, and beguiling vocal melodies. When the band taps into their particular brand of angular skronk on “Memories”, there’s a masterful interplay that recalls famously tight-knit trios like This Heat and Minutemen. Even at their fiercest moments, such as on fiery “F the NRA”, the band never descend to the cacophony they cranked out in their early years. “It’s a conscious anger now,” Kugel says of their harnessed fury. “You’re navigating through it and figuring out your place in all of it, whereas the first record is more of a general statement of ‘I feel mad.’” There’s a newfound discipline, depth, and dimension to The Coathangers on The Devil You Know, like each member learned how to imbue their bandmates’ songs with their own personal touch.

The album title stems from an old adage whispered at a friend’s wedding. We settle when we’re afraid of the unknown. It’s a theme that runs through every song on the album, and even though the band insists they were writing songs about other peoples’ pain, they acknowledge that the old saying applies to their band as well. We get comfortable, we get scared, and we refuse to change. But with The Devil You Know, The Coathangers lost their fear, and that allowed them to shed the baggage of the past. “Why are we living in these cells we built for ourselves?” Kugel asks. “That’s been the great thing about this record. It’s been honest and confrontational… but not in a shitty way.”