22 Sound Records

On Monday May 9th we kick off our next black midi campaign for the band's sophomore album Hellfire, with the single & Gustaf Holten�s ("Slow") directed video "Welcome To Hell". Hellfire will be out on July 15th. The album was written in London 2021 and produced by Marta Salogni and black midi, with additional production from Max Goulding. Artwork was created by David Rudnick (who's done the artwork for all previous black midi albums as well), using AI technology into which he fed lyrics from the album to generate imagery which was then printed, cut up and reconfigured into a detailed and complex collage.

No band can quite build their own universe like�black�midi. Hellfire, their third album and second in two years sees the London three piece at their most direct. "Welcome To Hell" tells the story of a debauched soldier's excess and military discharge, soundtracked by funky guitar sections, driving horns and a progressively snarling vocal.�Premiered by Steve Lamacq on 6 Music. 2022 live dates incl Coachella, Glastonbury, Somerset House, more to be announced.�

Formed in 2012 out of a mutual love of metallic hardcore but despair at its lack of ambition, Ithaca exist to challenge everything you thought about what a band that makes heavy music should look and sound like. A glitter-covered nailbomb, Ithaca seamlessly blend the brutality of Relapse Records metalcore with blackgaze, 90s industrial metal, 70s prog and even tinges of 80s power pop. Their influences stretch beyond the musical - this album comes with a clear vision and aesthetic: drawing from members� different ancestral heritage, queer/non-conforming identities and iconic figures in avant-garde, new wave and post punk culture. Their upcoming second album �They Fear Us� is the sound of a band healing from trauma - standing in their own, unapologetic voice. Furious and wildly inventive while also being more coherent and accessible, this album will introduce Ithaca to a wider audience than they�ve ever had before. To quote the band - �those who oppose us; your sins will catch up to you. You will fear us�.

This was recorded in San Francisco with Ryan Greene at Motor Studios. A nice place to record a punk record. The title is not referring to Airwalk or Vans, it is from a Douglas Adams book called, �So Long and Thanks For All the Fish.� We tend to get hit with a lot of shoes when we play so we thought it was a good title. It�s not our last album. Nate from the Bosstones came by and played guitar on a couple songs. That was pretty cool. We kinda went for more of an old school sound on this record. More hardcore than the previous one. I like it. Favorite song-Desperation�s Gone. Too bad about ska getting mainstream, I don�t think I wanna play it anymore. -NOFX

With One Day, Fucked Up have delivered one of the most energizing and intricate�albums of their career, a massive-sounding record that arrives in deceptively small�confines. The Canadian hardcore legends have been known for their epic scale in the�past, so it might be a surprise that Fucked Up�s sixth studio album is their shortest to�date, written and recorded in the confines of one literal day (hence the title). Don�t�mistake size for substance, though: The band�s sound has only gotten bigger, more�hard-charging, with even denser thickets of melody.�

�I wanted to see what I could record in literally one day.� That singular idea came�to mind for guitarist Mike Haliechuk in the closing months of 2019. Haliechuk got�himself into a studio and proceeded to write and record the record�s ten tracks over�three eight-hour sessions, reconnecting with the core the band�s songwriting essence�in the process.�

Initially, Fucked Up vocalist Damian Abraham was also set to complete his vocals in�similar fashion�that is, before the lockdowns of 2020 took place. As it turns out,�the isolation yielded creative dividends, as Abraham returned to contributing lyrics�as well for the first time since 2014�s Glass Boys. �It almost felt like it might be the�last time I�d ever get to record vocals for anything,� Abraham says of the stakes he�felt while putting his part to tape, before reflecting on how he approached the lyrical�process: �What do I want to say to friends who aren�t here anymore? What do I want�to say to myself?��

Over swarms of tuneful noise that evoke Sonic Youth circa Daydream Nation,�Abraham lets loose on gentrification in �Lords of Kensington,� which was inspired�by an �incredible� Toronto neighborhood that was regularly subject to life-ruining�police surveillance and structural violence. �The police chief during that era�he just�opened a cannabis store,� Abraham explains. �It�s so cynical and gross, what society�has come to�but by being in a band, we�re culpable in changing the neighborhood,�too, since the punk spaces and cool happenings that pop up are part of�gentrification. Are you building a culture? Or are you ruining something that�s already�been there?��

Then there�s the dusky burn of �Cicada,� a sonic cousin to Dose Your Dreams��excellent standout �The One I Want Will Come for Me� that features Haliechuk�taking lead-vocal duty. The song is dedicated to lost friends, and in his words, it�s�about �what life is like after you lose people, and our responsibility to carry them�forward into the future, using the things they taught us as a light. I like to imagine the�sound of cicadas as a metaphor for our strange life in the subculture�we all just live�these weird little hidden lives under the dirt, and then once in a generation, one of�us gets to bust out of the dirt and intone their song so loud that it can be heard all�over.�

One Day is an undeniable work of confidence from a band that continues to operate�at the top of their game, making music that�s guaranteed to last a lifetime and beyond.

On their album, All That Was Promised, Hath set out to expand on what they did with previous releases,
experimenting with more varied sounds and new ideas, but now more direct and cohesive. In the end, the record
came out darker and more punishing than expected. It�s important to the band to grow and learn without losing sight
of what they do best. This album is more personal and introspective, with songs about enduring change and all the
promises made to us in life � broken or otherwise. Indie Exclusive Random Color 2 LP.