Photo by Scott Troyan

“The only thing more helpful than a deadline is an extension.” So true, Algernon Cadwallader, because there’s a fourth quarter pile-on happening right now with new music, and these page’s reflection on the fourth wave emo heroes’ comeback album, Trying Not To Have A Thought, is going to wait few weeks or so before it gets around to writing some kind words on it in full. In the meantime, “noitanitsarcorP” — a definite highlight off the listen from which those words come — and its trippy psychedelic visuals directed Darby Irrgang and Ricky Christian can be something to celebrate right now.

It’s a song that sounds both everything and nothing like the Philly indie-emo revivalists has done at this point, combining a fully charged punk-pop energy spike alongside some signature noodling with the sigs. Apparently, it was born out of a group ketamine trip, which might explain its excitable focus and a grand irony to what vocalist Peter Helmis leads on in lyric. The patience and cadence to get this Algernon Cadwallader energy in 2025 was well worth the wait nonetheless.

Directed by: Darby Irrgang & Ricky Christian

Algernon Cadwallader’s Trying Not to Have a Thought is available now on Saddle Creek.