Photo by Silken Weinberg

Going 4-0 when it comes to advance singles leading up to your big, publicity-fueled sophomore effort is a really good sign that the whole thing is going to be worth all of the buzz-talk buildup behind it. For a band like Scowl, who’ve had to contend with plenty of shade across hardcore spaces since becoming a “Taco Bell band” — all the while when all of the other Taco Bell bands like Turnstile and Militarie Gun got praised for doing just the same — that’s got to be an even more assuring feeling that trusting your creative intuitions and ignoring the noise was the right move. Are We All Angel‘s final advance single, “Tonight (I’m Afraid)”, puts all of the eclecticisms of their being an alternative in modern hardcore together — the Paramore-sided post-emoisms led by Kat Moss’ cleaning choruses, the toppling of them by a big rock headcharge, and it landing them right back in the despair pit where Moss transfigures into a hell-borne force. The only thing anyone really has to be afraid of when it comes to the Santa Cruz crew is just how easy they’re making it all sound.

Directed by: lilfuchs

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