STRANGELIGHT: Transistor Transistor, Kowloon Walled City members unite in new Bay Area band, announce debut album "Adult Themes"; new track streaming now
Stream first single "Heaven's Parking Lot," here:
Pre-order the album, here:
https://strangelightoakland.bandcamp.com/
Consisting of members of Transistor Transistor, Kowloon Walled City, and a slew of other notable bands, Strangelight rips the gate right off its hinges with Adult Themes – ten glorious chunks of anthemic rock n' roll by way of teeth-gnashing hardcore punk.
In guitarist/vocalist Nat Coghlan's words: "I distinctly remember being in high school, driving to band practice, and hearing Hot Snakes' Automatic Midnight for the first time. I was floored. In some way or another, I've been doing my best approximation of Hot Snakes and Rocket from the Crypt ever since." Strangelight's ruckus is likely to dazzle fans of both those legendary bands as well as Coghlan's former outfit, the beloved Transistor Transistor, whose last album, 2008's Ruined Lives, Decibel Magazine called "feverish post-hardcore" and Revolver Magazine described as "discordant riffs and manic beats that unapologetically put the rock back in 'noise rock.'"
Pre-order the album, here:
https://strangelightoakland.bandcamp.com/
Consisting of members of Transistor Transistor, Kowloon Walled City, and a slew of other notable bands, Strangelight rips the gate right off its hinges with Adult Themes – ten glorious chunks of anthemic rock n' roll by way of teeth-gnashing hardcore punk.
In guitarist/vocalist Nat Coghlan's words: "I distinctly remember being in high school, driving to band practice, and hearing Hot Snakes' Automatic Midnight for the first time. I was floored. In some way or another, I've been doing my best approximation of Hot Snakes and Rocket from the Crypt ever since." Strangelight's ruckus is likely to dazzle fans of both those legendary bands as well as Coghlan's former outfit, the beloved Transistor Transistor, whose last album, 2008's Ruined Lives, Decibel Magazine called "feverish post-hardcore" and Revolver Magazine described as "discordant riffs and manic beats that unapologetically put the rock back in 'noise rock.'"
Strangelight's songs rage hard, but this is not teen angst. Adult Themes bears the world-weariness of four lifers who between them have put in about a century of rocking. Coghlan's lyrics look bluntly at everyday existence and find the tough questions therein. On "Heaven's Parking Lot" he sings: "What’s going to happen to all my stuff after I die? / It’s the one reason I hope there’s an afterlife / They say heaven is a place where it’s rent controlled and cheap / They say you can’t take it with you but go ahead and watch me."
"The album is called Adult Themes because the lyrics deal with the monotonous aspects of life as an adult," he explains. "I don't pretend to have any great insight into the human condition. There are songs about mortgages, there are songs about retirement plans. And since it was all written and recorded before the pandemic, it's kind of a weird snapshot of life as it was, for better or worse."
Strangelight's origin story goes back to the early '00s. New Hampshire native Coghlan met drummer Julia Lancer (The New Trust) while on tour in California in the early '00s and the two bashed out some demos together. Almost fifteen years later they reconnected in Oakland, unearthed the demos, and brought their friends Tony Teixeira (Swingin' Utters, Cobra Skulls, Western Addiction) and Ian Miller (Kowloon Walled City, Less Art) into the fold. Adult Themes was recorded by the newly united foursome in three days at Shark Bite Studios by Kowloon Walled City's Scott Evans, the very same week in March 2020 that the Bay Area was ordered into lockdown. The album was mixed by Evans at Antisleep and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away) at The Atomic Garden.
Some lucky folks in the Bay Area have already had the chance to witness Strangelight in the flesh, pre-lockdown, on bills with the likes of Radioactivity and Uniform; stand by for news of the next live shows, as soon as possible.
Tracklist:
1) The Samsara of Secondary Markets
2) Digressions from Sierra Leone
3) Start Breaking Down
4) Object Permanence
5) Walks into a Bar
6) Gold Rolex
7) Alienation Part 2
8) Effortless
9) Heaven's Parking Lot
10) Adjustable Rate
Lineup:
Nat Coghlan - vocals, guitar
Tony Texeira - guitar, vocals
Ian Miller - bass
Julia Lancer - drums
Album art by Tony Teixeira
1) The Samsara of Secondary Markets
2) Digressions from Sierra Leone
3) Start Breaking Down
4) Object Permanence
5) Walks into a Bar
6) Gold Rolex
7) Alienation Part 2
8) Effortless
9) Heaven's Parking Lot
10) Adjustable Rate
Lineup:
Nat Coghlan - vocals, guitar
Tony Texeira - guitar, vocals
Ian Miller - bass
Julia Lancer - drums
Album art by Tony Teixeira
Layout by Josh Staples
Band photo by Sara Sanger
Band photo by Sara Sanger
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