DRY SOCKET is an aggressive hardcore-punk outfit from Portland OR. The band is fueled by raw emotion, and is completely unapologetic about their views. While DRY SOCKET is a new project, the members are no strangers to fast, off-timed, hard hitting music. Their live show leaves no time for a breath of air, the second they start playing, there is no stopping for bullshit. Their new EP “Shiver” (pre-order HERE on Get Stoked! Records or HERE on Ugly & Proud Records) is a testament to this attitude and will undeniably leave you floored from start to finish. Today, we’re stoked to give you the full stream of the record, with a special band commentary, insightful track by track rundown and great Portland punk scene report! Launch this venomous offering and scroll down to see it all.
Vocalist Danielle Allen explains the lyrical concept behind the EP:
We went into this band with the commonality that we are all angry. Angry at the world, angry for the world, angry at the government, the systems, capitalism. This EP is basically that anger mixed with a whole lot of personal anxiety.
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Muzzleβs first draft was anger at Donald Trump and the absolute lack of accountability at his abuse towards the women in his life. Around when we were writing it, the remains of Nikki Kuhnhausen were found on a mountainside near Portland. She was murdered by a man she met on the internet when he found out she was trans. As the song developed it evolved to touch upon every person that feels unsafe in their very existence.
Damn You touches on personal mental health. Iβve struggled with unchecked anxiety my whole life, really only getting a handle on it in the last few years. The song is a free form of the gears that drive me and everything I do. I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling of being so overwhelmed you are unable to be somewhere, do something or talk to someone.
Scarred goes into internalized trauma and the lack of self value it creates in a person. Iβve always looked at my life as something that could have gone two directions. I had a traumatic childhood that allowed for a traumatic adulthood. It took a lot of work to reach a healthy place of some semblance of self love and living a quality life. I look at family members and see who I could have turned into if I had not decided that I was worth the work. This song touches on all of that and the sadness I have for the people in my life who did not fight their way out of the pit that trauma creates.
Icebergs is the personal processing of how we are destroying the earth and my own privilege. I know that climate change is not something that will directly affect me anytime soon, but for so much of the world it is already causing massive hardship and problems. In my privilege, I am directly contributing to climate change while being at the sidelines of trying to make changes. Iβm trying to find my voice, figure out my role and not just let the powers and money in charge dictate the future of the world and its inhabitants.
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Iβve worked in healthcare for the last few years and seen first hand how our system fails people on the daily based off income, race, sex, legal status and more. When I worked shifts in the psych area of the Emergency Department, I would consistently sit in my car and cry after work. Our last recording touched a lot on my feelings and experiences during that time. More recently Iβve moved into the alternative medicine world, working in a naturopathic clinic and going to massage school. Iβve been immersed in this world that considers itself an alternative to the failing allopathic world, but is just as exclusive in different ways. Wellness is a huge industry and fad, with people using self care as a way to sell people on things that usually make them feel more inadequate. Untrained wellness gurus create content that treats people as others if they arenβt white and skinny. Donβt get me wrong, I love my naturopath and the care I get in the alternative medicine world. What I hate is the barriers to getting that care, the exclusivity of having to buy things in order to become healthy, and the people who take on authoritative roles with no training that are detrimental to the real work people can do with their health. Self Hate Care is my anthem to every cultural appropriating instagram influencer telling people to go buy sage to cleanse themselves of their problems while selling detox drinks.
Made is a short, fast banger about christianity and the hold it has on our government. Evangelicals love Trump, but look the other way at his morality, his actions and his government holding children in cages. I may not believe in God and the edicts that go along with that, but I know there is nothing moral, holy or Christian about Trump or the people that support him.
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Geoff: Currently, Shiver is going to be released as tape with our friends at Get Stoked! Records in the US and Ugly and Proud Records in Europe.
Dani has a long history with Justin and Matt from Get Stoked! from when they were in Screaming Skull in Vermont. Through Squalor and Screaming Skull playing together in Portland, it really set in motion Dry Socket being a band a few years later. Before we were even done in the studio, Justin offered to put out the tape for us. It was a no brainer to work with them on releasing the tape. They are both people that have given a lot more to hardcore than they have gotten back and are people that we love.
We were introduced to Niki of Ugly and Proud through Chris of Wake of Humanity from when I was filling in with them. None of us have had a physical release in Europe before, so we are very excited that that is going to happen.
Recording
We recorded at Big Red Studio with Nick Decker outside Portland. Nick’s attitude and natural ear added so much that elevated the music we had worked so hard on. He enabled us to try new things, get creative and push ourselves. We created a recording we are proud of and love. We wouldnβt have been able to do that without him.
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Geoff: Right after we formed, Drew moved to the coast with his family. We have become used to coming up with ideas separately and hammering it out over marathon long practices.
“πβπ ππππππππ ππ π‘ππ π‘πππ ππ’π ππππππ‘π¦ π‘π π€ππ‘βπ π‘πππ πππ π‘ππππ π‘βππ’πβ.”
We feel lucky that we finished everything that we had to do in person for the recording. It has given us something positive to focus on in wake of being stuck at home and seeing the world seemingly fall apart around us. We were firing on all cylinders heading into the stay-at-home orders. The momentum from recording the EP immediately caused us to start writing a bunch of new songs for the next record, trying to continue on the process of evolving as a band. We are continuing with writing through this time. We have high hopes of putting out some splits or another EP this year with the hope everything clicks back into place once we can get back in a room together without any momentum lost.
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Touring
Geoff: We had booked a slew of shows in the Pacific Northwest when the pandemic hit. Playing shows is the most rewarding experience of doing a band and what hardcore punk is based around. It is hard to make plans until there is some clarity on what our new normal is. With it being out of our control, we are doing what we can to write more material so we can be ready to go when we can be in the same room again.
Portland hardcore scene
Geoff: Itβs great to be in Portland. Almost any type of music has a scene here with a ton of support. Normally, you could get onto PC-PDX.com and find a good show most nights of the week. We all like a varied set of styles, so Portland is perfect for us.
There is also a lot of variety of people doing bands, promoting shows and creating their space in the scene. Growing up in other places, a lot of our scenes felt like you had to earn your place through gatekeepers, usually older white straight male ones.
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Using terms like βfemale frontedβ or putting on shows with all white dudes is more and more a rarity. That all being said, we still live in one of the whitest cities in the US and our scene has a long way to go before all people feel they have a place in it.
Lots of great straight up hardcore bands exist here like WithXWar, Cutting Through, XCauterizeX, CounterXStrike, and Worws along with some more musically progressive bands like Gilded Age, Moonkisser, Drench, Clavel, and Fainting Spells. Mixed in are the powerviolence bands like Deadwitch, Agricultural Development, and Family Vacation.
Almost all of the bands here have a message, too. Even beatdown bands like Hound have a positive message to communicate.
Northwest shows get a bad rap of not being as high energy, but there has been a scene lately focused around the Core House where a lot of exciting shows have happened. Every show there is like an explosion of energy. It was a fun place, but unfortunately recently shut down. That scene provided a new injection of youth into heavy music in Portland, so hopefully it finds a new home.
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There are a handful of good venues that are owned and run by people from a DIY music background. Blackwater Bar is always all ages and feels like the home venue for us as a band.
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Luckily, so far none of them have announced that they are closing for good. Some of them are able to float from still being able to have takeout for food, but we are definitely fearing some of them wonβt make it to the other side of this. Even when the stay home/stay safe is loosened, live shows as we know it wonβt be the same. Itβll take a lot of the community standing up together to support venues to protect them from closing.
Other bands worth a check
The [Please Stay] Safe Inside comp is amazing from start to finish with bands like Sunset, Chemical Fix, Dying For It, and Rejection Pact.
It was just released, and donations from it go to those affected by at-risk workers impacted by COVID-19. The comp helped me find out about new bands like Blight Future and their βCompassion Fatigueβ EP, which has this mix of styles and recording quality that is exactly what I like.
Tuning has a single out entitled βBitter Windβ, and the rest of that record will not disappoint. So keep an eye out for that.
Pig Cityβs βTerminal Declineβ came out late last year, but it is something that has just been on my personal rotation ever since. Just some good powerviolence, not too far from Sex Prisoner.
KIDS – SUHβM is full of chaos and aggression. Highly recommended.
Entryβs new song βYour Best Interestβ, and STOPLOSSβs new song βMark It Zeroβ are both out now supporting new records that are going to be amazing as well.
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Lyrics
Damn You:
Mouth like daggers. Inhale the pain. Stabbing my cheeks. Thoughtlessly trying to speak. Should go home, be alone. Quietly staring into nothing. Mind believes what it believes. No one wants to be around me.
Icebergs:
Ground knees to the floor. Back bent till itβs broke. This is not an end worth waiting for. Surviving on a percentage from investors in misery. Crumpled under foot hands to the ground. Brought up to be torn down. Intentional destruction of the greater good. People float but this weight drowns. Whatβs left, who has it? Whatβs left, who never did? Told to be quiet, today is no different than yesterday. Future disappearing, my mind is sinking, colliding towards death. Nothingβs different. Refusing to face, future disappearing, the end is one edge. Nothingβs different.
Made:
Morally broke, pour me a drink. Some wafers to eat. Bound my hands, pretending those in charge are not hard in the pants lined with corrupt romance. Ordained by god, just a mass mob. Nothing but a holy matter. No state, just disgrace.
Muzzle:
Bloated with words, empty of thought. I canβt stand the stench of your delicate distraught. Violent aversion to mockery, charming until offended. A little man with a big mouth, always something to scream about. Lit on fire to burn your shame. Emotionally inept refusing the blame. Soothing your ego to save our fucking lives.
Self Hate Care:
Walk into a fire, don’t look discrepancies. Magic all around, you’ll help me see. Make a claim, wellness out of reach. Drift into the picture touting your remedy. Wanna sell a little quicker? Intuitive value on worth. Priced to sell self-value. Not doing your own work. Wanna sell a little quicker? Intuitive value on worth. Performance based medicine, creating a fear-based need. Sold a better version, elixir to a better life. Told we can’t be healthy without following.
Scarred:
Burnt alive how did we survive when tenderness is proof youβve been ruined. Broken hopes but solid dreams. Itβs, itβs not all tragedy. Performed along their story a fucked up version of a fucked up person. Watch me fade away. Burnt alive how did we survive when tenderness feels like proof you’ve been ruined. Feel my heart as it escapes. Watch me fade away.
