Santa Cruz hardcore band Scowl announced their new album, Are We All Angels, last month, and today they’re back with their latest offering, ‘Tonight (I’m Afraid)’—the final single before the album drops on April 4 via Dead Oceans. ‘Tonight (I’m Afraid)’ finds Scowl at their most vulnerable, driven by anthemic choruses and punchy basslines, all cut through by Kat Moss’ visceral screams. The song arrives with a flip book music video illustrated by Adam Fuchs, the creative director of AdultSwim.com. The track follows previous singles ‘B.A.B.E,’ ‘Not Heaven, Not Hell,’ and ‘Special.’
Produced by Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Mannequin Pussy, etc.), who worked on their most recent project, the Psychic Dance Routine EP, Are We All Angels finds the venomous and antagonistic band funneling their aggression through a more expansive version of themselves. The album was mixed by Rich Costey (Fiona Apple, My Chemical Romance, Vampire Weekend, etc..). An album marked by alienation, grief, and the loss of control, much of it grapples with their newfound place in the hardcore scene, a community that has both embraced the band and made them something of a lightning rod over the past few years.
At every turn on Are We All Angels, the band explores ambitious new directions and bends genre norms. Moss makes the most immediately noticeable evolution, dropping some of the gnarly bite of the band’s previous work in favor of a more textured and sometimes delicate approach. She flexes harmonies and melodic sensibilities that might surprise even the most dedicated Scowl fans. Moss cites a wide array of influences outside the realm of hard rock—everything from Billie Eilish to Radiohead, Car Seat Headrest to Julien Baker. “The majority of us were really not proficient musicians when this band started,” she admits. “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 cites influence from Negative Approach, Bad Brains, Hole, Mudhoney Garbage, Ramones, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Rocket From The Crypt among others. Bassist Bailey Lupo notes “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.”
Even through this more eclectic approach, Scowl loses none of their edge and still manages to convey the anger and frustration that lies underneath. They are deeply committed to carrying the ethos of punk and its sense of community. “Hardcore and punk have sculpted how we operate, what we want to do as a band, and how we participate,” says Greene. “At our core, we are a punk and a hardcore band, regardless of how the song shifts and changes.”
Scowl
Are We All Angels
Are We All Angels
Tracklisting
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
ABOUT SCOWL
Scowl has quickly established themselves as one of the most dynamic and hard-working acts in rock, touring extensively in the U.S. and internationally with the likes of Limp Bizkit, Destroy Boys, The Bronx, Militarie Gun, Show Me The Body, Zulu, Touche Amore, A Day To Remember, Speed, Sunami and many more, along with festival appearances at Coachella, Reading & Leeds, No Values, Outbreak, Primavera, and Sick New World to name a few. The band—Malachi Greene (guitar), Bailey Lupo (bass), Cole Gilbert (drums), Mikey Bifolco (guitar), and Kat Moss (vocals)—formed in 2019 and broke out in 2021 with their debut album How Flowers Grow, and they’ve been on a non-stop rise ever since garnering cover stories from Alternative Press and Revolver and support from Pitchfork, FADER, Stereogum, Spin Magazine and much more . With 2023’s Psychic Dance Routine, Scowl pushed the boundaries of punk, blending aggressive hardcore with lush alternative melodies.
For More on Scowl
