Opinions like this are always subjective, but I think most of us can agree that Modern Life Is War are the greatest hardcore punk band ever to come out of Iowa. MLIW emerged from the small city of Marshalltown in the early '00s, and their impassioned, electrifying, frantically melodic style took the underground by storm. They released three albums before breaking up in 2008, and then they returned not long afterward with the triumphant 2013 reunion album Fever Hunting. Modern Life Is War have been back together ever since then, but they haven't released a full LP in twelve years. That's about to change.
Later this year, Modern Life Is War will release the new album Life On The Moon. It follows a series of three EPs called Tribulation Worksongs, which were compiled last year. The band co-produced the new album with longtime collaborator Brooks Strause. Ryan Patterson, of Coliseum and Fotocrime, helps out on a bunch of tracks. Lead single "Johnny Gone" is a two-minute attack that also works as a poetic rumination on living within anti-human systems, and it's got Strause on organ. Here's what MLIW frontman Jeff Eaton says about the track:
A subvertisement. A joke? A riddle. I feel so obsolete when it comes to all this, and honestly it's about time. I am constantly thinking of quitting. Johnny (not John Paul Eich, nor John Lyndon nor John Lennon) has been called an aimless folk zero. Accused of riding around in cars and printing revolutionary newspapers and going broke. He has ideas that burn him awake at night, he cannot hold a job. He is erotically moved by economic threats in white envelopes from government agencies. From East Palestine, Ohio to Tehran, Iran. A song to settle the score and use the platform for something worth it, for once and for the first time, try to have fun with it. Like a neurotic flash of lightning. A ball of fire in the night sky from a chattery missile sent to shatter peacetime. Starring Mickey Mouse, Mahsa Amini, Jinx, Jane, and the Queen of California.
Below, listen to "Johnny Gone" and check out the Life On The Moon tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Invocation"
02 "First Song On The Moon"
03 "There Is A Telephone That Never Stops Ringing"
04 "Empty Shoes"
05 "Jackie Oh No"
06 "Johnny Gone"
07 "Homecoming Queen"
08 "You Look Like The Morning Sun"
09 "In The Shadow Of Ingredion"
10 "Bloodsport"
11 "Kid Hard Dub"
12 "Over The Road"
13 "Talismanic"
Life On The Moon is out 9/5 on Deathwish, Inc./Iodine Recordings.
