Teenage Wrist Team With 311's S.A. Martinez For 'Dark Sky'

07-11-2023

Cover art

(Epitaph) Teenage Wrist share their new single "Dark Sky" featuring 311 vocalist Doug "S.A." Martinez. The fourth offering ahead of their new record Still Love out on August 4, "Dark Sky" conjures a garage-rock haze of fuzzy guitar riffs and tight drum fills. An ode to the 90's alt originators and one of Teenage Wrist's biggest influences, the explosive track aims to honor the legends of 311 in the highest regard.

"We toured with 311 in the summer of 2022, and it was nothing short of life changing for me," front man Marshall Gallagher reminisces. "I've been a diehard fan since I can remember discovering music on my own. S.A.'s voice was the first thing I heard after peeling off the plastic on the 'Blue' album CD and popping it in my friend's home stereo circa 1998. One of the most defining moments in my relationship with Anthony (Salazar) is when we sang "Down" together at karaoke... Not only did S.A. destroy this performance, but the lyrics were 100% on point in keeping with his iconic style. A truly mind-blowing experience in Wrist history."

Marshall continues, "The lyrics to "Dark Sky" were inspired by an essay written by my cousin (Suzannah Showler, phenomenal writer) about our relationship to night and darkness. Part of my own personal development has been accepting the things I don't know and can't control, forgiving and accepting myself for being flawed. So, I really connected with this idea that we are terrified of the dark on an instinctual level, but the pursuit of eradicating it (physically and metaphorically) throws the world out of balance. The "new pollution" in this case is light pollution, or more in the context of the song, pursuit of what we think is right and good. It becomes exhausting and counterproductive - lately I've been finding it much more liberating to just admit that I know nothing."

The culmination of the past eight years of continually evolving and refining their sound, Still Love represents a fully realized version of Teenage Wrist. Reaching new heights in both scope and execution, their third record is a demonstration of the band maturing as songwriters and musicians. Deftly tackling subject matter much more introspective in comparison to the nihilistic energy of their sophomore effort, they chronicle the process and emotional catharsis of learning to love oneself through pensive lyricism.

The writing process started early 2022 with a retreat in Joshua Tree that inspired the band to push the limits of experimentation, allowing a sense of liberation to flow throughout the record and even into the artwork and visuals. Instead of relying on nostalgia, the dynamic between these two musicians drives them to push the limits not only of Teenage Wrist's sound but their own personal forms of creative expression. "We didn't have a preconception about how we were going to be received for this record, so we decided we should just create something organic that we feel completely present making," Anthony Salazar (drums) explains. "There was no other intent than for us to express ourselves."

The powerful bond between Marshall and Anthony lies at the core of Teenage Wrist's music and, more than any other factor, that's evident on every moment of Still Love. "There was a certain feeling that music gave me as a kid and this is honestly the first time on any record I feel like we kind of came close to achieving that," Gallagher says of the end result. "We just shot from the gut on this record and tried not to overanalyze things... and I think the record speaks for itself."