Photo by Adam Powell

If you are in need of reminder that feel good underdog stories still exist in these hopeless times, consider that of Basement, the humble melodic hardcore band from across the narrows of Ipswich in the UK who have probably spent as much time figuring out their place in a broken music world as they have actually pursued it.

Fortunately for us, they’ve ultimately chosen to make definitive return from hiatus status a few years back — all in the in-betweens which their impact has grown their scene hero status into becoming one of its biggest bands that can now easily headline a hardcore fest these days. “WIRED”, the title track and one of two first early listens off their first new album since 2018’s Promise Everything, punctuates that notion.

Dubbed as a “hard reset” from the band, the listen isn’t so much a major stylistic swerve away from the emotive hardcore-adjacent melodicism that has permeated their modern era classics, though they’ve definitely level-upped in higher def res detail by working with Big Indie Rock Album producer John Congleton. “There’s a reason / For the choices you have made / There’s a season / Filled with razor blades,” sings vocalist Andrew Fisher in its opening moments — a firestarter of crunchy, roiling riffs and drums about to ignite, right before the whole thing rattles through its foundation. Destroy everything? Maybe not, but a little energy rewiring makes for a promising next chapter.

Directed by: Ashley Rommelrath

Basement’s WIRED will be released May 8th on Run for Cover Records.