Make no mistake, Gateway Drugs is back with ten tracks to shake us all out of our collective stupor. Following up on their 2015 LP Magick Spells (Dine Alone) comes PSA, a record that retains their characteristic shoegazy, psychedelic sound that Hellbound likened to “The Stooges meets My Bloody Valentine and the Brian Jonestown Massacre all at once—a little dark, a little eerie and a little grainy and all intoxicating.” Liv, Noa and Gabe Niles, the three siblings that make up the LA-based band, are joined by longtime friend James Sanderson on bass/guitar, whom they met and formed an instant bond with back in 2010 while on a tour of the US.
Before we found our world turned upside down, the band shared their overall theme as an album that reflects “everything that is wrong in the here and now and the almost total state of apathy we all find ourselves in due to feeling powerless to effect any change with respect to all of this.” PSA is an attempt to connect with others who feel the same way and regain a sense of our ability to change things for the better.
Today they premiere “Wait (Medication),” which is about “Falling in love with madness. When sustenance is stolen and your vice becomes your friend, your lover. Romanticization of loneliness and despair. The delight of debauchery and the consequences of excess,” according to the band. Could this be the anthem all of us in self-isolation are waiting for? Ingest this aural medicine.
Produced by Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes, ‘PSA‘ was recorded live at Josh Homme‘s Pink Duck Studios. PSA is raw, wild and chaotic, much like the last few years of the band members’ lives.
On ‘PSA‘ you’ll encounter musings that dive a bit more into the personal, like “Slumber,” sung by Gabe Niles, a reflection on unrequited love, with all the attendant rejection and “I’m Always Around,” sung by Liv Niles, a real look inside a failing relationship. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” an allusion to Gil Scott-Heron‘s ground breaking 1971 track, which was a big influence on PSA‘s overall theme. This fuzz-bass driven dirge is a take on how rebellion, protest, counter-culture and what they represent and mean have been manipulated, packaged, commodied and sold back to us in ads for jeans and car insurance.
Follow Gateway Drugs
facebook.com/GatewayDrugs
twitter.com/GatewayDrugs_
instagram.com/gatewaydrugs
Photo Credit: Ryan Nolan
Making Noise is a regular feature at the Noise Room. We spotlight music from bands and artists who have a new release out. If you’d like to be considered, please contact us at thenoiseroom[at]gmail[dot]com. We prefer YouTube videos or Soundcloud streams.
