In one month, the great Santa Cruz band Scowl will release Are We All Angels, their second full-length and their first for new label Dead Oceans. Before the album was even announced, the conversation around it took a predictable turn. Scowl started out as a scrappy hardcore band, and they've grown more polished and melodic with every new release. That talk isn't going to stop with the release of another advance track. Instead, Scowl's new song "Tonight (I'm Afraid)" shows how they're integrating their early sound with the brighter, more melodic approaches that they've learned over the years.
Scowl have already shared a bunch of advance singles from All We Are Angels: "Special," "Not Hell Not Heaven," "B.A.B.E." (They also contributed the unreleased song "Horrible Feeling" to the hardcore benefit compilation Real Bay Shit.) "Tonight (I'm Afraid)" is the last advance single from the LP, and it's another sleek but fierce jam built around big riffs, bigger hooks, and bandleader Kat Moss' tremendous charisma. But "Tonight (I'm Afraid)" ends with a big mosh-part breakdown where Moss brings back her feral scream, and it fits perfectly with the rest of the song. They're just really good at this. Check out director Adam Fuchs' animated "Tonight (I'm Afraid)" video below.
Are We All Angels is out 4/4 on Dead Oceans.
