Photo by Silken Weinberg

Many within the hardcore scene’s online discourse have seemed to have forgotten that hardcore isn’t always about performing a distinct style as it is upholding an ethos, and Scowl are here to remind everyone of that in more than one way on “Not Hell, Not Heaven”, the lead single from the Santa Cruz alternative hardcore band’s forthcoming sophomore effort and Dead Oceans debut, Are We All Angels. “Hardcore and punk have sculpted how we operate, what we want to do as a band, and how we participate. At our core, we are a punk and a hardcore band, regardless of how the song shifts and changes,” guitarist Malachi Greene said in introducing to the rest of the world. By now, anyone familiar with the five-piece have come to expect these shifts in gears, with their most recent effort, 2023’s listmaking extended play, Psychic Dance Routine, being a meticulous balancing act teetering the pit and stage anthems. Here, they’re further refining on the latter, pulling in melodiously driving chunks of riffs and a serenity prayer pop-punk chorus where frontwoman Kat Moss’ aggression toward taking control of her own narrative need not screams or shouts. “My dreams call for blood now / You’ll see that there’s no way out,” she sings. Parting the sea and filling it with red, she and Scowl swallow any voices standing in their way.

Directed by: Sean Stout

Scowl’s Are We All Angels will be released April 4th on Dead Oceans.