{"product_id":"scowl-are-we-all-angels","title":"SCOWL - Are We All Angels [CD]","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"aec-product-description\" class=\"col-md-12 col-sm-12 col-xs-12\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"aec-desc-review collapse\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScowl is a band that sounds exactly like their name implies.\u003c\/p\u003e\nVenomous, fierce, antagonistic. A sneer not to be crossed. Over the last five\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eyears, the Santa Cruz, California, band has firmly planted their flag in the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehardcore scene with their vicious sound and ripping live show, sharing stages\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003earound the world with Circle Jerks, Touché Amoré, and Limp Bizkit, and filling\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eslots at prominent festivals like Coachella, Sick New World, and Reading and\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eLeeds. But with their new album, Are We All Angels (Dead Oceans), Scowl is\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eaiming to funnel all that aggression through a more expansive version of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethemselves.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMuch of Are We All Angels grapples with Scowl's newfound place in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe hardcore scene, a community which has both embraced the band and\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003emade them something of a lightning rod over the past few years. Standout\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esingle \"Not Hell, Not Heaven\" outright rejects the narratives cast onto them by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eoutsiders. \"It's about feeling victimized and being a victim, but not wanting to\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eidentify with being a victim,\" explains vocalist Kat Moss. \"It's trying to find grace\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein the fact that I have my power. I live in my reality. You have to deal with\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewhatever you're dealing with, and it ain't working for me.\" The band breaks from\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ea sense of disassociation to seek deeper connections on \"Fantasy.\" \"It's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eincredibly challenging to try to balance my love for the scene while also feeling,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein some spaces, extremely alienated and hated,\" Moss says. \"'Fantasy' is about\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003efeeling like I don't know how to connect with these people anymore, because I\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehave shelled myself away so hard.\"\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe album ends in a philosophical place on the closing, titular track,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\"Are We All Angels,\" asking questions like, \"Is this all there is?\" and ultimately\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eputting it on the listener to decide. \"It's about the personal struggle between\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003egood and evil. It doesn't matter how 'good' or 'bad' you are, there are systems\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethat will try to rewrite your narrative no matter what you actually do,\" explains\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMoss, noting that punctuation on \"Are We All Angels\" has been deliberately\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eomitted in an attempt to leave the statement open-ended. Are We All Angels is\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe highly anticipated follow-up to Scowl's debut, 2021's How Flowers Grow, a\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e16-minute primal scream over punishing riffs. But amidst the pounding chaos, it\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas the record's sonic outlier, a cleaner interlude called \"Seeds to Sow,\" that,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003etrue to it's name, planted the seed for what was to come for the band. \"It kind of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003elaid out this destiny for us, and I feel like now we're fulfilling that,\" says drummer\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eCole Gilbert. The band continued to expand their sound on 2023's widely\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eacclaimed Psychic Dance Routine EP, incorporating more pop hooks and\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003efavoring gentler singing over heavy screaming, paving the way for what would\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecome next.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eScowl's growth got a huge boost from producer Will Yip (Turnstile,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eTitle Fight, Code Orange, Balance and Composure), who broadened the band's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003escope. \"Will would say, 'Everything you have here is correct, but it's in the wrong\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eplace,'\" says Gilbert. Moss adds: \"Will really helped restructure a lot of the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ematerial. Some songs he tore apart to make more space for the really good\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehooks and choruses.\" But even through this more eclectic approach, Scowl\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eloses none of their edge, and still manages to convey the anger and frustration\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethat lies underneath. They are deeply committed to carrying the ethos of punk\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand it's sense of community. \"Hardcore and punk have sculpted how we\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eoperate, what we want to do as a band, and how we participate,\" says guitarist\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMalachi Greene. \"At our core, we are a punk and a hardcore band, regardless of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehow the song shifts and changes.\"\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Spinster Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42601087959123,"sku":"656605165820","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0647\/6399\/files\/4398204-3324066.jpg?v=1743528023","url":"https:\/\/www.spinsterrecords.com\/products\/scowl-are-we-all-angels","provider":"Spinster Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}