Tag: D.R.U.G.S.

The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2022 (Part Four)

Here we are. The final part of our most anticipated albums of the year. Please enjoy part 4!

This is part four of four. If you haven’t read part three yet, check it out here.

2021 was the year many musicians showed us the works they created during the 2020 pandemic. And since the pandemic is still (somewhat) raging around the world, it’s giving musicians even more time to perfect their craft.

In 2022, we’re getting several great albums some several great bands and artists, but out of all the albums that are coming out this year, these are the ones you need to keep your eyes on. Here are the most anticipated albums of 2022, in no particular order.

Album: The Collapse (Velocity)

Release Date: 6/10

Back in the early 2010s, SECRETS were just one of the many post-hardcore bands that simply existed among the sea of run-of-the-mill sounding bands who played Warped Tour. A decade has passed and so has that style. What’s a post-hardcore band to do? Toss everything away and become heavy af. That is what the now metalcore band are trying to accomplish on their new record The Collapse, coming out today on Velocity Records (And So I Watch You From Afar, D.R.U.G.S., The Villa). And from what’s been heard so far, they’ve became the band they’ve always wanted to be.

Album: TBA (Hopeless)

Release Date: TBA

Ready to be sad again? Philly’s greatest sad boys have graduated to sad men with their upcoming seventh studio album. The Wonder Years have gifted us two beautiful songs: the emotional “Oldest Daughter” and the slow burn semi-acoustic track “Summer Clothes”. Both are beautiful to say the least. No word yet on a release date but the band promised that it will drop later this year via Hopeless Records (Fame On Fire, Scene Queen, Vaines).

Lizzo

Album: Special (Atlantic/Nice Life)

Release Date: 7/15

It’s about damn time. Prince’s protégé has returned to us with new material, the first since her breakthrough third album Cuz I Love You back in 2019. And just as the name says it, Special is truly special, according to Lizzo. “I think that the music really is going to speak for itself,” she told Apple’s Zane Lowe. “I’m writing songs about love from every direction, and I hope that I can turn a little bit of the fear that’s been running rampant in this world, energetically into love. That’s the point. I had a lot of fear, and I had to do the work on myself, and this music is some of that work in turning that fear into love. I hope that when people listen to this album, it makes their day just a little bit better, a little bit more filled with love.” Let’s hope this album is truly worthy to be named special.

Album: Viva Las Vengeance (Fueled By Ramen/DCD2/Warner)

Release Date: 8/19

Twitter’s most hated popstar is back. Love him or hate him, Brendon Urie has proven time and time again that he can do no wrong music wise, and his seventh album, Viva Las Vengeance, will hopefully show us that he hasn’t lost touch in his four-year absence. Working with producers Jake Sinclair (Fall Out Boy, New Politics, Weezer) and Mike Viola (Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, Fall Out Boy, Mandy Moore), the album dives into Urie’s childhood and relationships. Viva Las Vengeance is a “cinematic musical journey about the fine line between taking advantage of your youth, seizing the day and burning out.” Rage against the dying of the light, P!ATD.

The Devil Wears Prada

Album: Color Decay (Solid State)

Release Date: 9/16

It took me decades to get into The Devil Wears Prada. The christian metalcore band have been growing stronger since their Warped Tour days, becoming giants in their genre. Now with their eighth record on the horizon, Color Decay, the band decided to test their growth and togetherness by recording the album in “remote hideaways” across Wisconsin and California with keyboardist Jonathan Gering sitting in the producer’s chair. They said in a press release that “collaborating closely” brought TDWP a “rich sonic architecture.” Color Decay drops September 16 on Solid State Records (Azusa, Fit For A King, Norma Jean).

Polyphia

Album: TBA (Rise)

Release Date: TBA

Oh who are we kidding? Album four is a myth. Everyone knows that. Or is it? Could this be the year that album four officially drops? Could be. The instrumental prog-rock quartet have been teasing fans about this mythical album for a bit, but guitarist Tim Henson did tell Alternative Press that it does exist. “The only hints that we give towards it are printed on merch drops with little texts on hoodies and stuff. It’ll say something like ‘album four is a myth,’ just to mess with people because they’ve been waiting so long, but it’s really interesting to watch our Spotify and our socials grow without us doing anything,” Henson said in an interview with the magazine. “Obviously, we’re doing a ton of things behind the scenes, but not putting anything out for anyone to grasp on to when they’re just rallying together with all the old stuff, it definitely feels good to know that we have a very starved fanbase waiting for us to drop [songs].” He did tease the appearances of an “OG goat guitar player” on the record (Steve Vai, perhaps?), “an OG goat rock singer”, and some “pretty well-known rappers and then lots of incredible instrumentalists.” Album four will hopefully drop this year on the band’s new label Rise Records (Covey, Flogging Molly, Royal Coda).

Travie McCoy

Album: Never Slept Better (Hopeless)

Release Date: 7/15

Twelve years have passed since Travie McCoy dropped his debut solo album Lazarus. In that span of time, his collaborator on his hit single “Billionaire”, Bruno Mars, became a superstar, reunited his old rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes before killing it off shortly before their appearance at Warped Tour’s 25th anniversary show, and signed with Hopeless Records. Now in the present day, he’s about to unleash his long-awaited second solo album Never Slept Better. Can he strike gold once more?

Porcupine Tree

Album: Closure/Continuation (Music For Nations)

Release Date: 6/24

British prog-rock legends Porcupine Tree blew everyones’ minds back in 2021 when they announced that they were reuniting for the first time in a decade. During that break, frontman Steven Wilson committed himself to his solo work with the rest of the band doing the same. The same day they reunited, the now trio (bassist Colin Edwin is continuing his solo endeavors) released a new song and announced their eleventh album Closure/Continuation, which wouldn’t come out for another seven months. Get stoked, Porcupine Tree fans. Only a few more days til Closure/Continuation drops.

Death Cab For Cutie

Album: Asphalt Meadows (Atlantic)

Release Date: 9/16

25 years ago, a small band from Washington state graced our ears by the name of Death Cab For Cutie. And 25 years later, they’re about to give us their tenth record Asphalt Meadows. Dropping this September through longtime label Atlantic Records (100 gecs, Coldplay, In This Moment), the group collaborated with Grammy Award winning-producer John Congleton (AJJ, The Dismemberment Plan, Manchester Orchestra). The record is their follow-up to 2018’s Thank You For Today and 2020’s The Georgia EP which had DCFC covering bands like TLC, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Cat Power.

Album: TBA (Glassnote)

Release Date: TBA

French indie pop darlings Phoenix have been really quiet for a while after dropping Ti Amo in 2017. But in January, they confirmed that album #7 was in the works. And while no more word on the record has dropped recently, they did release to the public a brand new track called “Alpha Zulu”, which is slated to appear on the record.

The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2022 (Part Two)

This is part two of four. If you haven’t read part one yet, check it out here.

Silverstein

Album: Misery Made Me (UNFD)

Release Date: 5/6

Post-hardcore legends Silverstein are aiming to shake things up on their eleventh album Misery Made Me. Frontman Shane Told put it, “We went into this with no rules and no preconceived notions of what Silverstein is or what it could be. The results are bold. We somehow wrote the heaviest, saddest, catchiest, and most emotional songs in 22 years of being a band…all on the same album. I wanted to explore the meaning of ‘Misery’ as a main theme throughout the album. Despite the mountains climbed and boulders pushed during recent years, we were confronted by the weight and misery of staying relatively in the same place for a long period of time. Finding peace in the reality of this misery became important. The record is about the acceptance of a new reality and adapting to it.” Check out the misery when it drops May 6 via UNFD (Crossfaith, In Hearts Wake, Short Stack).

Hot Water Music

Album: Feel The Void (Equal Vision)

Release Date: 3/18

Gainesville punk rockers Hot Water Music are planning on an electric return to form on album #9. With The Flatliners’s frontman Chris Cresswell now an official member and the band being on a new label, Equal Vision Records (And So I Watch You From Afar, Hail The Sun, Scary Kids Scaring Kids), HWM are ready to show that they haven’t slowed down for a band that’s nearly 30 years old. The record was produced by longtime producer Brian McTernan (Bane, In Fear And Faith, Strike Anywhere). When it album drops later this month, make sure to get the album New Noise called “a solid album.”

Portugal. The Man

Album: TBA (Atlantic)

Release Date: TBA

2017 was a massive year for Alaskan turned Oregonian psychedelic pop-rock band Portugal. The Man. Their eighth studio album Woodstock would become one of their most successful albums to date, selling over half a million copies, and even won them a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Feel It Still”. Fast forward five years later and no word on a new record. But during the pandemic, they have been working hard on their ninth record, including some new tracks, one, a collaboration with deadmau5, being only available as an NFT. “We’ve been writing a lot of music,” bassist Zachary Carothers told Riff Magazine last April. “We’ve been working on an album for the last couple years and, once again, we just had to overthink it. We strip stuff away; we throw away sessions—kind of like we always do. But we are getting very, very close. We’re getting to the last few weeks. We’re still writing new songs and stuff. We have a real easy time starting songs and incredibly difficult time finishing songs. When it comes to something like this, nobody knows when the song is done. You just have to stop at some point. And we’re getting very close to the stopping stage. But no one can really tell when that is. I know that we do want to get a little bit more on the grid before we release anything, and … kind of figure out the world that we’re coming back to.” Only time will tell when the new record drops.

Drug Church

Album: Hygiene (Pure Noise)

Release Date: 3/11

Back in 2018, I put their third album Cheer as the best album of the year. Will they be able to repeat that feat come years end when Hygiene hits stores this Friday? It’s hard to say right now, especially since we’re only three months in to 2022. Last year, the post-hardcore/grunge act dropped a stupendous EP called Tawny, bridging the gap between Cheer and Hygiene. And it did tie fans over, showing that the band aren’t ready to slow down yet. From what’s been released so far off of Hygiene, it’s gonna be a bonafide hit that no one should sleep on.

Eve 6

Album : TBA (Velocity)

Release Date: TBA

No one expected Eve 6 to make a comeback. Nearly 20 years after their relevancy ended, the 90s alt-rock act known for their “heart in a blender song” meme’d themselves into popularity when frontman/bassist Max Collins started using Eve 6’s Twitter to create hilarious posts and memes. And somehow this shitposting got the band a deal with rebooted label Velocity Records (D.R.U.G.S., If I Die First, Nate Bergman), who released the band’s latest EP Grim Value last June. It was the band’s first batch of new material since 2012’s Speak In Code album which came out on another oddball label for the band, Fearless Records (Archetypes Collide, Grayscale, Oceans Ate Alaska). They’re gonna ride on this rebirth of fame by dropping a brand new album sometime later this year.

Placebo

Album: Never Let Me Go (Rise)

Release Date: 3/25

Placebo are doing a bunch of firsts on their upcoming album Never Let Me Go. For starters, it’s the band’s first album recorded solely as a duo following the departure of drummer Steve Forrest in 2015. Second, it’s their first album under Rise Records (Angels & Airwaves, The Distillers, Merci). Third, it’s their first album in nearly a decade. Heavily inspired by Kanye West’s Yeezus, Rolling Stone called Never Let Me Go “Placebo’s strongest album in years,” packed with songs full of “metallic stoner rock, post-punk and gorgeous piano melodies.” Get this one at the end of the month.

Charli XCX

Album: Crash (Atlantic)

Release Date: 3/18

Meet Charli XCX’s bad side. On her final album under her contract with Atlantic Records (100 gecs, Lizzo, Royal & The Serpent), the pop goddess is going all out, unleashing bangers left and right. The album follows her early pandemic release How I’m Feeling Now and features her “demonically talented” friends, with production Ariel Rechtshaid (Adele, Plain White T’s, Vampire Weekend), Lotus IV (Cash Cash, Ty Dolla $ign, Zedd), Ian Kirkpatrick (Breathe Carolina, Lauv, The Ready Set) and Justin Raisen (Joji, Sharon Van Etten, Yves Tumor), plus appearances by Christine And The Queens, Caroline Polachek, and Rina Sawayama.

Bleachers

Album: TBA (RCA)

Release Date: TBA

Already? But they just released one! Yup. Apparently, Jack Antonoff, the man behind Bleaches, made a promise on Twitter that a new album would be out this year, tweeting, “i am going to put out a bleachers album this year.” That tweet was posted on New Years Day. If this is going to happen, it will be the shortest amount of time between Bleachers albums. Their third studio album Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night coming out last July.

Album: THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND (Little Dipper/Rise)

Release Date: 4/1

Recorded over the span of five summer days last year with Grammy-award-winning producer Peter Katis (The Get Up Kids, Interpol, The National), PUP’s fourth album has the band trying some very experimental things. Due to the pandemic, Katis let the Canadian punks stay in his house during the making of THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND. This let the band experiment with instruments like pianos, synths and horns. They even remotely collabed with several acts like NOBRO, illuminati hotties, Casper Skulls, and Remo Drive. So far from what we’ve heard, it’s gonna be a masterpiece.

State Champs

Album: Kings Of The New Age (Pure Noise)

Release Date: 5/13

With their fourth album, Albany pop-punkers State Champs are here to prove they’re the kings of the new age. The band in a press release, “Kings of The New Age is our fourth album, the one that we spent the most time on, and the one that makes the biggest statement. After writing over 30 songs, we narrowed it down to 11 that best represent our mission as a band, and sonically, match the energy level we wanted to captivate heading into this new chapter.” Continuing they add, “KOTNA is a reflection on the past few years during a very weird time,” they continue. “However, it is also a reminder that we’re only here for so long. Although we will always live and learn by trial and error in areas like friendships, family, careers, relationships, etc., there’s no time for toxicity and negativity when a certain opportunity presents itself. Never waste a moment that can be seized. Times are changing, culture is evolving, and we’re happy to provide the soundtrack and let you know that we’re here to stay. Welcome to The New Age.” It’s gonna be amazing.

Part three will come out next week!

The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2022 (Part One)

New year, new music.

Tears For Fears

Album: The Tipping Point (Concord)

Release Date: 2/25

Could it be? Is this actually happening? Are we finally getting brand spanking new music from Tears For Fears? Yes. Sound the alarm. The last time these British legends dropped an album of new original material was 2004’s Everybody Loves A Happy Ending. 18 years later, we’ve been gifted The Tipping Point, ten songs fueled by sadness and pain which nearly pushed Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith to their tipping points (no pun intended). Let’s see if the nearly two decade long wait was worth it when it drops this Friday.

D.R.U.G.S.

Album: TBA (Velocity)

Release Date: TBA

Don’t call it a comeback. Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows aka D.R.U.G.S. have been really busy creating their second album, their first since 2011’s self-titled debut. Back in December, frontman Craig Owens announced that the vocals were all recorded. “Can’t begin to tell you how much this new D.R.U.G.S. album means” he wrote on Twitter earlier this month. “Those who’ve heard it say it’s my best work yet. We are at the beginning of a new era, and I can’t wait to share this experience with all of you. Get ready! It’s coming soon…” Earlier this month, the band dropped a new track called “DESTINY”. No release date has been posted, but it will come out this year on Velocity Records (Eve 6, If I Die First, Thursday).

†††

Album: TBA (Warner)

Release Date: Spring

It’s the return of Crosses (spelled †††)! The experimental superduo consisting of Deftones’s frontman Chino Moreno and Far’s Shaun Lopez dropped two covers over the last two years, but now they are confirming new music is on the way. “Very happy to announce that @crossesmusic recently signed a worldwide deal with @warnerrecords. Looking forward to working with such an amazing crew,” Lopez posted in a statement on Instagram. The record should come out this spring on Warner Records (Avenged Sevenfold, The Head And The Heart, Saweetie).

Weezer

Album: The SZNS Saga (Atlantic/Crush)

Release Dates: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter

Last year, Weezer dropped two albums. Now, they’re upping the ante by releasing four albums in 2022. Dubbed the “SZNS” saga, each record is supposed to have a sound relating to its coordinated season. As NME put it, “Each of the project’s albums is due to be released on the first day of every season next year, and will feature its own unique style. For example, one of the four records will be inspired by Elliot Smith. Another will be inspired by Weezer themselves.” So if this is happening, the first album should come out March 20.

Avril Lavigne

Album: Love Sux (DTA)

Release Date: 2/25

If you told me a decade ago that Avril Lavigne would be making a comeback in the pop-punk world, I would’ve laughed. But alas I’m the fool. Coming this Friday is the Canadian pop-punk superstar’s comeback record Love Sux, dropping on Travis Barker’s label DTA. Her seventh album has her collaborating with stars like Machine Gun Kelly, blackbear, and Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, and was produced by her boyfriend Derek Smith aka Mod Sun and scene producer John Feldmann (311, Escape The Fate, The Used).

Streetlight Manifesto

Album: TBA (Pentimento)

Release Date: TBA

Just to let you know how long it’s been since Jersey ska legends Streetlight Manifesto dropped a record, Victory Records was still around, Obama was president, and I was still in high school. And it seemed that we would never get that long-awaited sixth album. That all changed when the band posted last July that a new album was underway. “So you’ve been asking about it and we’ve been coy about it. And there’s a reason we’ve been keeping things on the down low, and that’s simply because we don’t want to talk about something until it’s well under way and inevitable. That changes today because, well, it is now WELL under way and inevitable,” the band posted on Facebook. “Along with everyone else on the planet, our plans for 2020 and 2021 were a bit… steamrolled. We are now back on track and for the last few months have resumed working in the studio after a year apart from one another, both remotely and in person, on what will be our next album. This is simply a proof of life post, with some photos to prove that all of the SM gentlemen are alive and being kept busy in the studio. Hydration and food rations are being provided when absolutely necessary. We won’t have anything to share with your earballs for a bit, but we’re on course to release this behemoth of a record sometime in 2022. We will sporadically provide updates now and then, but we want all of you faithful and kind (and PATIENT) Streetlight fans to know we are hard at work and hope to exceed your expectations with a new batch of jams soon.” Now all we can do is be patient. But hey, at least we know it’s coming!

Dashboard Confessional

Album: All The Truth That I Can Tell (AWAL)

Release Date: 2/25

After a four year gap and an almost deadly motorcycle crash in 2020, Chris Carrabba’s beloved acoustic emo/rock band Dashboard Confessional has returned with new music on a new label. Dropping this Friday is the eighth album All The Truth That I Can Tell, releasing under the AWAL banner (Aly & AJ, Everything Everything, Lauv). Carrabba opened up about the album to Kerrang!, saying, “Honesty was at the heart of the writing process, at the heart of the recording process, and at the heart of this collection of songs. I had the rare opportunity to be unflinchingly honest. But I think I would have thought in the early days that that would be commonplace. Now, I realize it’s some kind of cycle within your life and there’s great personal reward in accepting that.”

Belmont

Album: Aftermath (Pure Noise)

Release Date: 3/4

After dropping two EPs with Pure Noise Records (Devon Kay & The Solutions, Grumpster, Moon Tooth), Chicago easycore trio Belmont will be finally dropping their first full-length with the label, Aftermath, next Friday. The album is the band’s second overall. Vocalist Taz Johnson talked about Aftermath in a press release, stating, “There’s a lot of serious stuff on this album. It’s personal and vulnerable and hopefully people can relate to it. But at the same time, the process of making it taught us to remember to have fun.” Drummer Brian Lada adds, “All our influences are here, and we put them into one big melting pot. More than anything, I just hope this album inspires people to give less of a fuck and instead do whatever they want.”

100 gecs

Album: 10000 gecs (Atlantic/Big Beat/Dog Show)

Release Date: TBA

100 gecs were one of the many bands I have let slip through my fingers on my Prenatt’s Picks a few years ago. Still won’t get over that, especially with how popular the experimental hyperpop duo of Laura Les and Dylan Brady have gotten. Their groundbreaking debut record 1000 gecs changed the game of pop music for the greater good (or not, your opinion). And now, with 10000 gecs, they’ll up the ante somehow. So far, we’ve heard some tracks off of 10000 gecs on their 10000 gecs tour last fall like “Hey Big Man”, “Fallen For You”, “One Million Dollars”, “Hollywood Baby”, and the only commercially released song “mememe” (with the Toronto date being cancelled and being moved to Buffalo, which I got to see with the creator of the Punk Goes Prenatt logo and icon. And someone recorded the show on their Nintendo 3DS.) With what has been performed and released, 10000 gecs will blow their debut out of the water.

Nekrogoblikon

Album: The Fundamental Slimes And Humours (Mystery Box)

Release Date: 4/1

The greatest goblin-inspired melodic death metal band has returned. Santa Barbara’s Nekrogoblikon are set to unleash their heaviest goblin-est record to date, The Fundamental Slimes And Humours, hitting stores and steaming services on April Fools’ Day. If you wanna hear a sneak peek at the record, check out “This Is It”, a heavy banger that has the band sounding as tight as ever. “This was the first song that got completed during the writing/demoing process, meaning it’s also the one we’ve been waiting the longest for you all to hear,” the band wrote in a press release. 2022 is no longe the year of the tiger, now it is the year of the goblin.

Part two will come out next week!

Craig Owens Drops New D.R.U.G.S. Demo “King I Am”

D.R.U.G.S. are back! Sorta.

Former Chiodos frontman Craig Owens dropped a demo for a Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows track called “King I Am” today, marking this the first song from the side project turned supergroup turned solo project since 2011.

Word came out of a D.R.U.G.S. reunion yesterday when someone leaked information of the demo on the Russian social media site VK. Rumors of a reunion began in 2017 when a potential reunion date of 2018 was posted, but nothing ever happened. Turns out their Twitter was hacked and ended up blocking former owners Owens and guitarist Nick Martin, the two surprised that someone tweeted from that account.

Currently D.R.U.G.S. is once again Owens, but he’s opened to adding more members, according to an interview with Forbes. “Yeah! I do think that I’ll introduce members later on, but right now my focus is just like it was when the first album was written,” Owens told Forbes. “The music matters the most. That’s where my focus is at. After that, I’ll start to figure out how to present it live. I don’t want this to just be about me. It’s about the music. That’s all I really care about, and that’s all I’ve ever cared about.”

He also said a new album has been in the works since December, but the original lineup tried to make a sophomore record before splitting. “I am writing the next D.R.U.G.S. album. I started writing it in early December. This song [“King I Am”] was written in early December. It was produced by my friend Hiram Hernandez. I’ve been working really hard on the album and that’s where my focus is.”

D.R.U.G.S. formed in 2009 and eventually became a full-fledged band, adding guitarist Matt Good (From First To Last,) guitarist Nick Martin (Underminded, Sleeping With Sirens,) bassist Adam Russel (Story Of The Year,) and drummer Aaron Stern (Matchbook Romance.) They released their only album D.R.U.G.S. in 2011 via Sire Records (Bryce Vine, Cavetown, Tegan And Sara) and Decaydance, now named DCD2 (Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Ultra Q.)