Western Addiction refuse to be confined to any preexisting genres. Their sound hop-scotches between blistering hard-core, cryptic lyrics, and an anxiety cyclone of moody rhythms. It is precisely these emotional juxtapositions that make their band so unique. The band has released their lead single, ‘They Burned Our Paintings,’ lifted from their third full-length, ‘Frail Bray,’ out May 15th, via Fat Wreck.
Working for the first time with producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock, Gouge Away), Western Addiction tracked ‘Frail Bray’ live to tape – another first for them – at the Atomic Garden in Oakland in late 2019. Guest musicians feature Darius Koski (Swingin’ Utters) on viola, violin, piano, tambourine, and backup vocals on their track, ‘Wildflowers of Italy.’ Another Fat family guest appearance is the powerhouse, Brenna Red, from The Last Gang, who provides backup vocals for ‘The Leopard and the Juniper,’ ‘Frail Bray,’ and ‘Rose’s Hammer II.’
Vocalist Jason Hall expounds on their latest effort below: “With a cosmic shot of pure irony, our new record, ‘Frail Bray,’ is about…hope. It’s easy to be terrible. It’s hard to be thoughtful, hopeful, and kind. Let’s try. The first single, ‘They Burned Our Paintings,’ is about degenerate art in the 1920s and 30s.”