Plague Vendor have announced their new album By Night, produced by John Congleton (St Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Chelsea Wolfe) and recorded at legendary EastWest Studios. The follow up to their 2016 debut full-length Bloodsweat and their widely-acclaimed debut EP Free to Eat is set for release on June 7 via Epitaph Records. The 10-song set kicks off with the raw, vital track and first single ‘New Comedown’.

“When we were writing 'New Comedown,' there were a lot of colours and themes that were coming through, so we thought it best to finalize the verses once we were in the recording studio,” notes the band’s frontman Brandon Blaine. “The energy, urgency, and excitement there was unmatched. We caught lightning in the booth and trapped it in the recording."

Plague Vendor is Blaine (vocals), Michael Perez (bass), Luke Perine (drums and percussion) and Jay Rogers (guitar). A fearless our-way-is-the-hard-way work ethic and famously physical live shows won the Southern California-based band a ferocious fan base and place of pride on the Epitaph Records roster. They are currently on the road taking their live show to venues around the US - supporting All Them Witches now, with select headline shows set for this spring. 

By Night sees Plague Vendor stretch and warp their songs, discovering a merciless sense of tension and apprehension that set every moment on edge. It captures the feeling of ruin and regeneration, of charisma and catastrophe and of slashing at the night with nothing but pure electricity. And, with Congleton’s precision production, they found their own way between the powerful-but-too-polished sound of right now and the engaging-but-aging reinterpretations of classic punk/rock albums of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Congleton’s limitless encouragement also led Plague Vendor to do things they never did before: chorused bass in endless waves, lightning-strike flashes of synth, motorik man-machine drums that sound inhuman and human at once and even a string section that’ll be a surprise if they ever do it live.

TRACKLISTING

01 - New Comedown

02 - Nothing's Wrong

03 - All Of The Above

04 - Let Me Get High\Low

05 - Prism

06 - White Wall

07 - Night Sweats

08 - Pain In My Heart

09 - Snakeskin Boots

10 - In My Pocket

Acclaimed Los Angeles punk rock band Bad Religion will release a new album entitled Age of Unreason on Epitaph Records on May 3. Since the group’s formative years they have steadfastly advocated for humanism, reason, and individualism. Now, when these values are in decline and nationalism and bigotry are on the rise, Bad Religion’s message has never been more essential. Age of Unreason delivers a powerful and inspired response - a political and deeply personal treatise on all they believe in. 

“The band has always stood for enlightenment values,” co-songwriter and guitarist Brett Gurewitz explains. “Today, these values of truth, freedom, equality, tolerance, and science, are in real danger. This record is our response.”

The songs on Age of Unreason are both furious and meticulously crafted. There are references to contemporary events; racist rallies, Trump’s election, the erosion of the middle class, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, and there are homages to the literary and philosophical works that have long inspired the band.

The track ‘Chaos From Within’ uses the band’s iconic fast, powerful and melodic sound to examine the current border wall controversy with the lyrics, “Threat is urgent, existential / with patience wearing thin / but the danger's elemental / it’s chaos from within.” As co-songwriter and lead singer Greg Graffin says, “Throughout history, walls have been used to keep the barbarians out, but it seems to me that the truly barbaric aspect of a civilization is the chaos that comes from within.”

Age Of Unreason Track Listing:

Chaos From Within 

My Sanity 

Do The Paranoid Style

The Approach 

Lose Your Head 

End of History 

Age of Unreason 

Candidate

Faces of Grief

Old Regime 

Big Black Dog 

Downfall

Since Now 

What Tomorrow Brings 

The Profane Rights of Man (bonus) 

Bad Religion play the Slamdunk festival in  May

25 May – Slamdunk Festival, Leeds (UK)

26 May – Slamdunk Festival, Hatfield (UK)

More dates to be announced!