Austin, Texas’ Mugger stormed back with Luck Forever earlier this month, and it’s a hardcore gut punch that’s equal parts chaos and catharsis. Dropping via Quiet Panic Records, this LP grabs you by the collar and shakes it out of you.
Packed with raw aggression and ethos of inclusivity, the album tears through heavy themes like power trips, gender politics, and personal battles, all while delivering riff-driven destruction that’ll leave your ears ringing and your fists clenched.
Produced by Daniel Fried and Patrick Troxell, with Will Killingsworth at Dead Air tightening the bolts, Luck Forever is Mugger in their prime: sharp, loud, and unapologetic.
Frontwoman Anna Troxell is a livewire, known for mic-swinging, head-smashing performances that light up Austin’s hardcore scene.
Featuring members of Creepoid, Radioactivity, and The Well, this band burn the place down. And with hardcore icon John Brannon (Negative Approach) jumping in on “Find Out,” they’ve added another level of intensity to the mix.
Since their Get a Clue EP blew through its first pressing in 2024, Mugger has been grinding. From touring with heavy hitters like Scowl, End It, Show Me the Body, and Circle Jerks, to sharing the stage with newcomers like Gel, they’ve channeled that dirty energy into anthems that tackle the toxicity of gatekeeping, the weight of grief, and the fight to carve out space in a music scene.
Anna Troxell gives you the play-by-play in her track-by-track commentary. Dive in and see what fuels MUGGER!
Track by Track commentary, by vocalist Anna Troxell
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Crank it Up!
This opening track started out as just your typical intro hardcore track with no lyrics and the obligatory grunt. But the more we jammed on it, I kept hearing a melody and wanted to explore it. The lyrics are about the realization that people around you are holding on to an outdated version of yourself – knowing that you’ve grown past that, but they refuse to acknowledge it. I often find myself mystified that people feel like they know you better than you know yourself, and this song is about standing up and emphasizing your ability to make your own choices.
Find Out!
Find Out! Is about power imbalance. In lots of areas in my life, but certainly in the realm of the music industry, I have found myself to be in positions where I am not taken seriously. I’ve often been assumed to not be a member of the band I’m touring with – or the member of the band that’s in charge of settling or advancing. It’s unfortunate, because I do feel that assumption is tied up in gender. While there is an element of feeling pissed off about that – the song is meant to be playful – to ridicule the fact that this still exists in music in 2024.
Not the One
This track follows along with that ideology of not being taken seriously – it will certainly sneak up throughout the album. “Not the One,” however, is more sarcastic. I sing “Please explain, please explain,” with rolled eyes and a “LOL.” As a woman in music, I often am put in the position of unsolicited advice on how to perform, or a mystifying education on the history of punk and hardcore. I do understand these are microaggressions, and most often does not come from a bad place – but it is still entirely unnecessary and annoying.
All Time Tough Guy
I had the title for this one first. I love that idea of someone being crowned the “all time tough guy” like the homecoming queen or something. This song is really about a rally cry – to gather the like-minded folks around you. It’s about making room for all types of people in our little scene – yes physically, but also in a broader sense. There’s room for everybody.
Candy Apple Baseball
Candy Apple Baseball was written before I discovered the technicolor world of Charli XCS’s Brat summer, but it certainly fits within that universe. It’s a bop – a little fun tongue in cheek exploration of what’s girly. I love exploring gender dynamics, and how we assign gender to objects and places. I think it’s fun to both lean into these gender stereotypes and reject them, and that’s what I’m trying to explore in Candy Apple. It’s brat.
Dickhead Logic
First and foremost, I need to clarify that as someone from Philadelphia, “dickhead” is not necessarily a derogatory term – but rather a shorthand way to describe basically anyone.
In this track, “Dickhead Logic” characterizes a person we all have in our lives, for better or for worse. It’s that person that haunts your Instagram but never drops a like or makes a comment. They always ask about the show after the fact, but they never actually go. It’s this whacked logic that they don’t want to support you, but they can’t look away.
Bury You
Bury You is probably the most lyrically personal track on the album. A long time ago, I was in an abusive relationship. I was just a kid. At the time, I was too afraid to tell anyone. I wasn’t just embarrassed and ashamed; I also didn’t think anyone would believe me. The person I was involved with was one of the cool kids and a pivotal part of our little hardcore scene. Being in a relationship like that is so confusing – it happens so fast even if you think you’re someone it would never happen to. I lost my entire sense of self and identity, and it took a long time to get it back. This track helps me to remember the distance between the person I was then and who I am now.
101
101 is my love song. I adore the idea of putting a love song on a hardcore album, and letting my lyrics be soft and vulnerable for a moment. It’s the most intimate track on the record, even if it’s delivered fiercely. I’m a big fan of open clear communication in relationships, and here I’m doing exactly that.
Get a Clue
Get a Clue is about being trapped by a punisher. We’ve all been there – at a show or a party, and suddenly finding yourself being obnoxiously educated on the significance of “The Shape of Punk to Come.” It taps into those same power/gender imbalances that weave throughout the album – and the assumption that someone doesn’t know as much about a topic as the other. If I was braver, or maybe meaner, these lyrics are what I would say in that situation. Get a fucking clue y’all, we don’t want to talk to you.
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Know it All
Know it All was really a fun one to write. I hate to overuse the term “gatekeeping” but we can agree that this happens, right? Certain promoters, certain venues, etc. – only book or give big opportunities to certain types of bands. They alienate people within their fan base by discrediting them – by refusing to imagine that the audience might want to see a show with different types of folks performing. It’s this utter lack of imagination that really haunts me.
It’s easy to get discouraged, but it just motivates me. I try to focus on what I can do, and keep pushing forward.
I Just Wish
I Just Wish is the most playful and satiric track on the record, and the only one written from an imaginary perspective rather than my personal one. The protagonist is on the run from the police – and teases them on how thirsty they are to find me. If only someone in real life wanted me that much, the character laments. It’s meant to be funny, obviously, but also to hint at the more uncomfortable truth that our justice system targets certain folks more than others.
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Dear SCOTUS
Dear SCOTUS is likely the most clearly presented message on Luck Forever. There’s no artful poetry, no. play on words. It was written on the day that Roe vs Wade was overturned, and our constitutional right to abortion was taken away. It was an extremely scary day for folks across the country, tinged with the unsettling feeling that we were living in some hapless sci-fi story. It really didn’t feel real. When faced with such a large shape of hopelessness, it felt good to write something so pointed and cutting.
Dead Friends
The album ends with death with the closing track “Dead Friends.”
I hate that I have lost so many friends to addiction. It makes me feel small and powerless and lost. I wanted to write a song that was big and powerful – to combat that feeling and to honor them all in a big way. I also wanted the song to ultimately be life-affirming, and to comfort those of us that are left behind. We are left with lots of questions and have nowhere to put those big feelings of loss. We’re backed up between the rocky mountain grief and the slippery edges of powerlessness. All we can do is remember that grief is double-sided, and our mourning has power too.
