Out today: STRANGELIGHT - Adult Themes

Strangelight's debut album, Adult Themes, is out today.

Listen and buy, here: https://strangelightoakland.bandcamp.com/

Strangelight is a new, Oakland, California post-hardcore dream team, featuring members of Kowloon Walled City, Less Art, Transistor Transistor, Swingin' Utters, and more.

The band makes driving rock n' roll, laced with teeth-gnashing hardcore punk and a dose of existential dread; for fans of Hot Snakes and Fugazi, as well as the aforementioned bands.

Adult Themes was recorded and mixed by Kowloon Walled City's Scott Evans; mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

More info: http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/strangelight-adult-themes.html

“An extremely welcome and heavy dose of Propagandhi and Hot Snakes-esque rock n’ roll perversion."
–Decibel

"A dark, dissonant and dynamic affair."
–No Echo

"One rager of an album. One that sneaks up on you and wins you over with catchy, garage-rock-damaged, post hardcore."
–New Noise

"In its subject matter and stark realism, the record reminds me of Pissed Jeans or what IDLES have recently done with their recent LPs."

–Echoes and Dust

“I like to believe that Oakland’s Strangelight is named after the Fugazi song from the seminal album 'The Argument,' and why shouldn’t they be... They’ve come together and they’re ready to knock down all doors with their enormous sound, built on Hot Snakes-fueled punk and adrenaline, stomping and thrashing one moment, dense and thudding the next."
–Post-Trash

"Centered around Coghlan’s howled vocals, fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming and mosh pit friendly hooks, the song evokes the frustration of life..."
–The Joy of Violent Movement

"Noise rock-infused punk n’ rollers."
–Idioteq

STRANGELIGHT - "Walks Into a Bar"

STRANGELIGHT: No Echo premieres "Walks Into a Bar" music video

Oakland post-hardcore dream team Strangelight has teamed with No Echo to premiere new song "Walks Into a Bar." 

"Walks Into a Bar" appears on Strangelight's debut album, Adult Themes, out next Friday, October 23rd.

Stream the song, by way of a music video created by Strangelight's Tony Teixeira, here:
https://www.noecho.net/features/strangelight-adult-themes

Pre-order the new album, here:
https://strangelightoakland.bandcamp.com/

From Oakland, CA, Strangelight consists of members of Kowloon Walled City, Transistor Transistor, Swingin' Utters, Less Art, and more. The quartet bashes out glorious, driving rock n' roll, laced with teeth-gnashing hardcore punk and a dose of existential dread. Fans of Hot Snakes, Fugazi, and the aforementioned bands, rejoice.

No Echo calls the album, "a dark, dissonant, and dynamic affair." Decibel calls it, "an extremely welcome and heavy dose of Propagandhi and Hot Snakes-esque rock n’ roll perversion."

Adult Themes was engineered and mixed by Kowloon Walled City's Scott Evans and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

More info:
http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/strangelight-adult-themes.html

Photo by Sara Sanger

STRANGELIGHT - "Effortless"

STRANGELIGHT: post-hardcore dream team reveals new track "Effortless" from upcoming debut album

Strangelight has revealed new track "Effortless," from its upcoming debut album Adult Themes.

Stream it, here:
http://post-trash.com/news/2020/10/7/strangelight-effortless-post-trash-premiere

From Oakland, California, Strangelight is a new band consisting of four punk veterans – members of Kowloon Walled City, Transistor Transistor, Swingin' Utters, Cobra Skulls, Less Art, and more. The quartet formed and recorded its debut album immediately before the coronavirus pandemic descended on the US.

Out October 23rd, Adult Themes is ten chunks of tortured-yet-anthemic rock n' roll, by way of teeth-gnashing hardcore punk. The album was recorded and mixed by Kowloon Walled City's Scott Evans; mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

Post-Trash.com, who premiered the new song this week, summed up Strangelight with these words: “I like to believe that Oakland’s Strangelight is named after the Fugazi song from the seminal album 'The Argument,' and why shouldn’t they be. Creating their own brand of post-hardcore, who better to chose for a namesake. Strangelight however have their own lineage worth noting, featuring members of sludge stalwarts Kowloon Walled City as well as Transistor Transistor and Cobra Skulls. They’ve come together and they’re ready to knock down all doors with their enormous sound, built on Hot Snakes fueled punk and adrenaline, stomping and thrashing one moment, dense and thudding the next."

A recent write-up from Decibel Magazine reads: “The twisty, smart, enlivening, and all around killer debut from post-hardcore expanders Strangelight... A sonic attack that combines the best aspects of the members' other bands with an extremely welcome and heavy dose of Propagandhi and Hot Snakes-esque rock n’ roll perversion."

Strangelight's Nat Coghlan says: "The album is called 'Adult Themes' because the lyrics deal with the monotonous aspects of life as an adult. 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."

Photo by Sara Sanger

STRANGELIGHT - "Digressions from Sierra Leone"

STRANGELIGHT: Oakland supergroup reveals "Digressions from Sierra Leone" single from upcoming debut album

"The twisty, smart, enlivening, and all around killer debut from post-hardcore expanders Strangelight... A sonic attack that combines the best aspects of the members other bands (Transistor Transistor, Kowloon Walled City, True Cross) with an extremely welcome and heavy dose of Propagandhi and Hot Snakes-esque rock n’ roll perversion."
–Decibel

Stream new Strangelight single, "Digressions from Sierra Leone," here:
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2020/09/17/track-premiere-strangelight-digressions-from-sierra-leone/

Pre-order the debut album, Adult Themes, here:
https://strangelightoakland.bandcamp.com/

From Oakland, California, 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. The band consists of current and former members of Kowloon Walled City, Less Art, Transistor Transistor, Swingin' Utters, Cobra Skulls, and more.

Of the new single, guitarist/vocalist Nat Coghlan says, "It’s about musicians, actors, celebrities, whoever, benefiting from 'bringing attention' to an issue while not really doing anything to help it... and the irony of how the issue helps out the artist in question more than vice versa."

As Decibel reports, Strangelight's ruckus is likely to dazzle fans of Hot Snakes and Propagandhi as well as Coghlan's former outfit, the beloved Transistor Transistor, whose last album, 2008's Ruined Lives, Decibel called "feverish post-hardcore" and Revolver Magazine described as "discordant riffs and manic beats that unapologetically put the rock back in 'noise rock.'"

Adult Themes was engineered and mixed by Kowloon Walled City's Scott Evans and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

More info:
http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/strangelight-adult-themes.html

Photo by Sara Sanger

STRANGELIGHT - Adult Themes

STRANGELIGHT: Transistor Transistor, Kowloon Walled City members unite in new Bay Area band, announce debut album "Adult Themes"; new track streaming now

From Oakland, California, Strangelight announces the October 23rd release of its debut album, Adult Themes.

Stream first single "Heaven's Parking Lot," here:

https://newnoisemagazine.com/track-premiere-strangelight-heavens-parking-lot/

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

Layout by Josh Staples
Band photo by Sara Sanger