Are We All Angels (LP)

Scowl is a band that sounds exactly like their name implies. Venomous, fierce, antagonistic. A sneer not to be crossed. Over the last five years, the Santa Cruz, California, band has firmly planted their flag in the hardcore scene with their vicious sound and ripping live show, sharing stages around the world with Circle Jerks, Touché Amoré, and Limp Bizkit, and filling slots at prominent festivals like Coachella, Sick New World, and Reading and Leeds. But with their new album, Are We All Angels (Dead Oceans), Scowl is aiming to funnel all that aggression through a more expansive version of themselves.

Scowl formed in 2019, after vocalist Kat Moss, a Bay Area scene regular with no prior musical experience, connected with guitarist Malachi Greene and drummer Cole Gilbert at the legendary Berkeley venue 924 Gilman the previous year. They soon recruited bassist Bailey Lupo, and later completed their lineup with the addition of guitarist Michael Bifolco in 2022. After self-releasing a pair of hard-hitting demos and playing local shows, Scowl became deeply immersed in the scene, coming up with a rising group of bands like Drain, Sunami, and Gulch.

At every turn on Are We All Angels, the band explores ambitious new directions and bends genre norms. Moss makes the most immediately noticeable evolution, dropping some of the gnarling bite of the band's previous work in favor of a more textured and sometimes delicate approach. She flexes harmonies and melodic sensibilities that might surprise even the most dedicated Scowl fans. Moss cites a wide array of influences outside the realm of hard rock-everything from Billie Eilish to Radiohead, Car Seat Headrest to Julien Baker.

Scowl's growth got a huge boost from producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Code Orange, Balance and Composure), who broadened the band's scope. "Will would say, 'Everything you have here is correct, but it's in the wrong place,'" says Gilbert. Moss adds: "Will really helped restructure a lot of the material. Some songs he tore apart to make more space for the really good hooks and choruses."