The fearsome New York band Bethlehem Steel are releasing a new self-titled album this fall. It’s the follow-up to 2017’s excellent debut, Party Naked Forever, and a new member has been added to the band this time around in the form of Christina Puerto, who wrote and sings on a handful of songs on the album. At the project’s center is still Becca Rsykalczyk, though, whose smoky voice grounds Bethlehem Steel’s lead single “Bad Girl”: “Woke up early to hate myself/ Am I a bad girl?” she wonders on it, her swirl of anxieties giving way to a terse, knotted breakdown.

“‘Bad Girl’ is about all the nights that my brain keeps me awake. Irrationally telling me I’m a terrible person. Going over and over and over all of the things I might have done to upset or inconvenience another human,” Ryskalczyk said in a statement. “Singing the line ‘am I a bad girl?’ to my bandmates or even just out loud to myself was definitely embarrassing. I wasn’t sure if I should even keep it as a lyric until I decided to just lean into it. I send my mom everything I’m working on and when I sent her the demos with place holder titles she was like ‘Bad Girl? Now THATS how you name a song!’ so naturally it had to stay.”

The song’s music video, which was directed by Ryskalczyk, takes place at a raucous New York City backyard party. Watch and listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Sponge”
02 “Govt Cheese”
03 “Empty Room”
04 “Couches”
05 “Not Lotion”
06 “Bad Girl”
07 “Read The Room”
08 “Four Aliens”
09 “Sheryl”
10 “New Dark”

TOUR DATES:
09/13 New York, NY @ Trans Pecos w/ Cat Cohen and Shark Muffin
09/14 Buffalo, NY release show @ Mohawk Place
09/15 Albany, NY @ Buddie’s Basement
09/16 Rollinsford, NH @ Sue’s
09/25 Boston, MA @ O’Briens *
09/26 Northampton, MA @ Red Cross *
09/27 Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar *
09/28 Toronto @ Duffy’s *
09/29 Kalamazoo, MI @ Candy Cane Lane *
09/30 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean downstairs *
10/01 St Louis, MO @ Nu Craig *
10/02 Fayetteville, AR @ Backspace *
10/03 Denton, TX @ J&Js *
10/04 Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
10/05 New Orleans, LA @ Bank St Bar *
10/06 Nashville, TN @ Drrkmttr *
10/08 Asheville, NC @ Static Age *
10/09 Raleigh, NC @ TBA *
10/10 DC @ Rhizome *
10/11 Philadelphia, PA @ Dumpster Out Back *
10/12 NYC @ Chili’s *
*= w/ Kal Marks

Bethlehem Steel is out 9/13 via Exploding In Sound. Pre-order it here.