Scowl - Are We All Angels [CD]

Scowl is a band that sounds exactly like their name implies.Venomous, fierce, antagonistic. A sneer not to be crossed. Over the last fiveyears, the Santa Cruz, California, band has firmly planted their flag in thehardcore scene with their vicious sound and ripping live show, sharing stagesaround the world with Circle Jerks, Touché Amoré, and Limp Bizkit, and fillingslots at prominent festivals like Coachella, Sick New World, and Reading andLeeds. But with their new album, Are We All Angels (Dead Oceans), Scowl isaiming to funnel all that aggression through a more expansive version ofthemselves.Much of Are We All Angels grapples with Scowl's newfound place inthe hardcore scene, a community which has both embraced the band andmade them something of a lightning rod over the past few years. Standoutsingle "Not Hell, Not Heaven" outright rejects the narratives cast onto them byoutsiders. "It's about feeling victimized and being a victim, but not wanting toidentify with being a victim," explains vocalist Kat Moss. "It's trying to find gracein the fact that I have my power. I live in my reality. You have to deal withwhatever you're dealing with, and it ain't working for me." The band breaks froma sense of disassociation to seek deeper connections on "Fantasy." "It'sincredibly challenging to try to balance my love for the scene while also feeling,in some spaces, extremely alienated and hated," Moss says. "'Fantasy' is aboutfeeling like I don't know how to connect with these people anymore, because Ihave shelled myself away so hard."The album ends in a philosophical place on the closing, titular track,"Are We All Angels," asking questions like, "Is this all there is?" and ultimatelyputting it on the listener to decide. "It's about the personal struggle betweengood and evil. It doesn't matter how 'good' or 'bad' you are, there are systemsthat will try to rewrite your narrative no matter what you actually do," explainsMoss, noting that punctuation on "Are We All Angels" has been deliberatelyomitted in an attempt to leave the statement open-ended. Are We All Angels isthe highly anticipated follow-up to Scowl's debut, 2021's How Flowers Grow, a16-minute primal scream over punishing riffs. But amidst the pounding chaos, itwas the record's sonic outlier, a cleaner interlude called "Seeds to Sow," that,true to it's name, planted the seed for what was to come for the band. "It kind oflaid out this destiny for us, and I feel like now we're fulfilling that," says drummerCole Gilbert. The band continued to expand their sound on 2023's widelyacclaimed Psychic Dance Routine EP, incorporating more pop hooks andfavoring gentler singing over heavy screaming, paving the way for what wouldcome next.Scowl's growth got a huge boost from producer Will Yip (Turnstile,Title Fight, Code Orange, Balance and Composure), who broadened the band'sscope. "Will would say, 'Everything you have here is correct, but it's in the wrongplace,'" says Gilbert. Moss adds: "Will really helped restructure a lot of thematerial. Some songs he tore apart to make more space for the really goodhooks and choruses." But even through this more eclectic approach, Scowlloses none of their edge, and still manages to convey the anger and frustrationthat lies underneath. They are deeply committed to carrying the ethos of punkand it's sense of community. "Hardcore and punk have sculpted how weoperate, what we want to do as a band, and how we participate," says guitaristMalachi Greene. "At our core, we are a punk and a hardcore band, regardless ofhow the song shifts and changes."