The new blood of Santa Cruz hardcore punk and recent Revelation Records signees, DRAIN have announced their debut for the label, California Cursed, due out April 10th. Today, the band has premiered the album’s first single— the succinct, hard-hitting, groove-laden “Sick One.”
The band’s sound — old-school California fight music, with a generous whiff of ’80s thrash-metal — is an adrenaline-charged blast. / Stereogum
Drain has a fiery, metal-tinged crossover hardcore sound and they’ve quickly gained notoriety for their unhinged live shows. Most notably, their set at Sound and Fury 2019 captured Drain in their element with over a thousand kids stage diving with smiles on their faces. The video was shared countless times and Drain began to gain popularity on the East Coast. They appeared at This Is Hardcore 2019 and continued to tour throughout the year with the likes of Judiciary, Gulch, Hands of God, and Higher Power, really solidifying their place in the global hardcore punk scene. Drain frontman Sam Ciaramitaro said,
“We feel that our shows embody what it means to truly be alive. There is no facade and no cosplay as to who we are. We just play every show like it’s our last and encourage everyone in the room to be whoever they want to be, and do whatever they want to do.”
After sharpening their live show, Drain was more than prepared to write a new record which would become their Revelation debut. The band went into the studio with producer/engineer Taylor Young (Twitching Tongues, Nails, Code Orange) to record 10 new songs that comprise California Cursed. Ciaramitaro explains,
“With writing California Cursed we kept it very organic and just got into a room together and tossed ideas around until we had songs that we felt were catchy, full of big riffs, and had no filler.” Ciaramitaro continues, “Aside from wanting to have wild live shows, we had no intentions, no connections, and no expectations when we started. We had to start at the very bottom and build ourselves up, and we have been very humbled through the ride.”
California Cursed will be available for pre-order starting on March 2nd. Catch Drain at United Blood Fest (Richmond) and Wild Rose Fest (Calgary) this spring and look for more live shows to be announced soon.
California Cursed track listing:
01. Feel the Pressure
02. Hyper Vigilance
03. Sick One
04. Army of One
05. Character Fraud
06. Hollister Daydreamer
07. White Coat Syndrome
08. The Process of Weeding Out
09. Bad Faith
10. California Cursed
