Ghost Cult is currently streaming Brittle Bones, the impending fourth full-length from Norwegian post hardcore collective WOLVES LIKE US. The stream comes on the eve of the record’s release via Pelagic Records.
Writes Ghost Cult, “One of the most compelling albums deserving your attention on tomorrow’s massive New Music Friday is WOLVES LIKE US and their new opus Brittle Bones… The new record is the culmination of their hard work and songcraft, living at the intersection of a ton of choice genre influences, a punker’s rage, and modern nuance.”
Adds the band, “We built this record brick by brick, took the mortar from the ’90s alt rock classics and mixed it with the concrete of punk rock – the result was a graffitied punk squat inhabited by shady sailors. Enjoy.”
Forged in 2010, WOLVES LIKE US emerged out of the ashes of local punk/hardcore pioneers JR Ewing, Amulet, and Infidels Forever, among others. The band quickly made a name for themselves as an super-energetic live band within the local scene, blending equal parts Quicksand and Afghan Wings with their own idiosyncratic post-hardcore sound. After only five shows, they signed with Prosthetic Records and hit the road for tours and shows with the likes of such scene heavyweights as Kvelertak, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Swing Kids, Junius, and Gallows. The band went on to release three critically-lauded albums under the Prosthetic Records banner: Late Love (2011), Get Gone (2012), and Black Soul Choir (2014).
This year’s Brittle Bones – demoed by Kvelertak’s Bjarte Lund Rolland and mixed by Kowloon Walled City’s Scott Evans – displays a more refined and dynamic wolf pack. “There was less tension this time; we almost didn’t argue at all which is rare for us,” relays drummer Jonas Thire. “A lot has happened to us at a personal level. Positives, like we all have kids now. But dark shit, too. There’s been a divorce. [Vocalist/guitarist] Lars [Kristensen] has been really sick. He wrote the lyrics as a kind of diary to deal with issues like abuse, literally and figuratively.”
The thread that runs through Brittle Bones is the topic of honesty. “It’s about dealing with demons in a real way, facing them and giving them the middle finger so to speak,” notes Kristensen. “Brittle Bones is a juxtaposition of the calm and the raspy; comfort and disturbance; beauty and repulsion… for the essence of art can only be understood as equally disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed.”
WOLVES LIKE US’ Brittle Bones includes a guest vocal appearance by longtime comrade Gared O’Donnell of Planes Mistaken For Stars and will be available on CD, LP, and digital formats October 25th. See preordering options below. Fans of Quicksand, Hot Water Music, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Junius, and Drive Like Jehu pay heed.
