I had been wondering why Glassjaw were set to return to the UK for a tour in January, as I simultaneously whimpered at the likelihood I wouldn’t be able to make a date on that tour. Then, as if by magic, like many a shopkeeper, the answer arrives; swear words swear words swear words! Fuck! Glassjaw may finally be following up their seminal sophomore and post-hardcore milestone Worship and Tribute with a long waited and turbulently rumoured third album.
Having played a surprise New York gig in August this year, the upcoming tour dates were a surprise, but not a crazy overwhelming one. Given that August date and the times they’ve regrouped over the last few years, albeit with new members sometimes, that tour could’ve just been pretty awesome news. That was until out of the blue Glassjaw dropped new music for the first time since 2011’s EP, Coloring Book, in the shape of ‘New White Extremity’ – the very track that I am getting all hot and bothered about right now.
Perhaps it’s an overzealous leap of wishful thinking, to assume that the band who have in the thirteen years since their last full-length album gone through line-up changes, new-band-forming hiatuses, significant illness, and label troubles are going to suddenly drop that difficult third album; with Glassjaw it clearly wasn’t a case of difficult second album. However, without hope, what are we but over-sentient and cynical apes waiting for nothing but death and disappointment, in no particular order.
Listening to the track though, it feels right. The band are on ferocious and disorientating form, capturing the muscular and physical aggression of their heavier hardcore moments on debut Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence as well as the unhinged emotional boundary pushing of the mania that has become one of their defining traits. They warmed themselves up again, creatively, with Coloring Book, they’ve got a big tour on the books, and new music out of nowhere. You don’t surprise someone for no reason.
Unless you’re Brand New and you enjoying releasing spontaneous awesome tracks just to fuck with everyone. Anyway, check out ‘New White Extremity’ NOW!
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site.
