Photo Credit: Silken Weinberg
Santa Cruz hardcore powerhouse Scowl has announced their upcoming album Are We All Angels, set to release on April 4 via Dead Oceans, which is also their first album under the label. The record is produced by Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Mannequin Pussy) who also worked on the band’s latest project, their EP Psychic Dance Routine, and mixed by Rich Costey (Fiona Apple, My Chemical Romance, Vampire Weekend). Are We All Angels deals with loss of control, alienation, and Scowl coming to terms with their new place in the hardcore scene as their popularity skyrocketed in recent years, no longer an underground band playing basement shows but instead performing at major festivals such as Sick New World and Reading and Leeds. Their recent single, “Not Hell, Not Heaven” deals with the concept of feeling isolated but finding power and confidence within that. The single also arrived with a music video that was filmed at 924 Gilman in Berkeley, the venue where vocalist Kat Mass, guitarist Malachi Greene, and drummer Cole Gilbert first met. Watch the video HERE.
“It’s about feeling victimized and being a victim, but not wanting to identify with being a victim,” Kat Moss shares about the new single. “It’s trying to find grace in the fact that I have my power. I live in my reality. You have to deal with whatever you're dealing with, and it ain’t working for me.”
“Not Hell, Not Heaven”, along with their first single for the album “Special”, both keep Scowl’s signature vicious, high-energy instrumentals that cement them as a powerhouse in the hardcore scene. However, these singles also show that Scowl is not afraid to push the boundaries of the genre, with Kat Moss providing melodic, lush vocals instead of brutal screams commonly associated with hardcore. Moss cites numerous influences across all genres, from Billie Eilish to Radiohead to Julien Baker.
“The majority of us were really not proficient musicians when this band started,” Moss explains. “It was very Germs-esque in that way, like baby’s first hardcore band, which is awesome. But now, we still might not know what we’re doing, but we have a better idea of what we want to do.”
Instrumentally, the band was inspired by Negative Approach, Ramones, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Hole, and more. With so many unique musical influences, Are We All Angels is set to cement Scowl as one of the most proficient and experimental hardcore bands in the scene. Bassist Bailey Lupo mentions, “The song writing on the new record was the most collaborative to date in Scowl’s history. Everyone brought so many ideas to the table and we were able to dissect it all and take our time. We all have such eclectic tastes, influences and personalities and you can really hear that in every corner on this album.” Despite this different approach, Scowl still retains their anger and vicious bite that makes them worthy of their name “Scowl”. They are dedicated to honoring their roots and upholding punk values. “Hardcore and punk have sculpted how we operate, what we want to do as a band, and how we participate,” says Malachi Greene. “At our core, we are a punk and a hardcore band, regardless of how the song shifts and changes.”
Presave the upcoming album Are We All Angels HERE.
Are We All Angels Tracklist
Special
B.A.B.E
Fantasy
Not Hell, Not Heaven
Tonight (I’m Afraid)
Fleshed Out
Let You Down
Cellophane
Suffer The Fool (How High Are You?)
Haunted
Are We All Angels
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