Upchuck. Photo by Cory Jones.
The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.
As their name indicates, Upchuck aren’t big on filtering their raw emotions. Instead, like all the best punk bands, the Atlanta five-piece release them in short, lightning-hot bursts of energy, channeling their anger at the world and the people who make it awful into tight, white-knuckled tracks of three minutes or (preferably) less.
“Freedoom,” the second single from their sophomore album Bite the Hand That Feeds, is about as close to this platonic punk ideal as possible. In 95 seconds, frontwoman Kaila Turner (a.k.a. KT) unleashes fire and brimstone over equally infernal drums and heavy power chords that rattle the walls of whatever room/car/ear they enter, even when adjusted to the NIH’s federally recommended volume guidelines.
With a few post-industrial glitches thrown in for good measure, it’s a track that would be perfect for troubling your neighbors/bystanders/dreams in the small hours of a Thursday morning, if that’s the sort of thing you’re into.
Hear “Freedoom” a day before its official release below. And scroll past our exclusive stream for KT’s statement on the song, as well as Upchuck’s North American fall tour dates — as headliners and in support of Faye Webster. Bite the Hand That Feeds is due out October 13 via Famous Class Records.
Trump was up for re-election, COVID had just started, they had just killed Rashard Brooks at the Wendy’s on the south side. And then they started bringing in tanks, which is just crazy to even say - there were tanks in downtown Atlanta. They were driving up kids after curfew, extended school buses full of swat teams, hanging out the windows with rubber-bullet-guns just pointing them out at us and laughing. From there they started gassing their own people, who really just wanted justice, and who were tired and fed up.
“Freedoom” is those nights of sneaking around the city trying to make the perfect turn so that you don’t get trapped or grabbed up by whoever is around the corner. It’s about late night meetings in undisclosed places, of what to do next, and an overall feeling – it’s being free but also dealing with hell. — KT
Upchuck fall 2023 tour dates
September 30 - Athens, GA - Southern Brewing Company
October 13 - Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5 (Record Release Show)
October 17 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ~
October 18 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ~
October 20 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner ~
October 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall ~
October 23 -: Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ~
October 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ~
October 25 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ~
October 27 -Toronto, ON - History ~
October 29 - Chicago, IL - The Riviera Theatre ~
October 30 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue ~
November 16 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern ~
November 17 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern ~
~ opening for Faye Webster