In December, I begged Microwave for a new album when I put their song “Straw Hat” on my list of my favorite songs of 2023. Today, the Atlanta emo crew — who were a Band To Watch in 2016 — are finally announcing a new album, Let’s Start Degeneracy (or LSD), the follow-up to 2019’s Death Is A Warm Blanket. “Bored Of Being Sad” is out now.

“It’s about letting go of attachments and behaviors that aren’t serving you, and trying to shake off your programming and not be motivated by fear and guilt and shame,” vocalist and guitarist Nathan Hardy said. “It’s about learning to be happy and take care of yourself.”

“Bored Of Being Sad” shows why they stand out from the emo/pop punk scene they’re enmeshed in, much too mature and interesting to be associated with frontmen who only shout being sad over ex-girlfriends: “If you romanticize misery/ Brother, you’re gonna be miserable,” Hardy sings. Drugs have always been a part of Microwave’s music, but the trips are magnified on LSD since Hardy experimented with ayahuasca in Peru with drummer Timothy “Tito” Pittard.

Hear “Bored Of Being Sad” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Portals”
02 “Ferrari”
03 “Circling The Drain”
04 “Bored of Being Sad”
05 “Straw Hat”
06 “LSD”
07 “Omni”
08 “Strangers”
09 “Concertito”
10 “Huperzine”

TOUR DATES:
05/04 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
05/07 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
05/09 – Toronto, ON @ Operahouse
05/10 – Lakewood, OH @ Roxy
05/11 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
05/14 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity
05/15 – Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s
05/17 – Denver, CO @ Ogden
05/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex – Grand Room
05/20 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
05/21 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Ballroom
05/22 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
05/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
05/24 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
05/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
05/28 – Austin, TX @ Empire Garage
05/29 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory
05/31 – Nashville, TN @ The Cannery
06/01 – Charlotte, NC @ Amos Southend
06/02 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
06/03 – Columbus, OH @ King of Clubs
06/05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
06/07 – Boston, MA @ Royale
06/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall

Let’s Start Degeneracy is out 4/26 on Pure Noise.