There’s nothing broken and nothing to fix in Drug Church. They are one of the elite heavy guitar-based bands and have been for at least a decade. Across the last four albums, Drug Church continually refined their core elements: crunchy, melodic hardcore with roots in 1990s alternative rock and their singular frontman, Patrick Kindlon, whose lyrics are filled with darkly hilarious tales of unsavory characters and biting social commentary. On PRUDE, the latest Drug Church release, they deliver another ten tracks of aggressive but melodic hardcore most fans will likely devour, eagerly memorizing the lyrics in anticipation of when the tour hits their town.
PRUDE is the work of a band doing what they do best, confident that they have the details right. Kindlon knows what he excels at (and what fans love about Drug Church–he is practically drowned out by fans who know the words to every song at shows and frequently lets fans take over on lead vocals, smiling broadly while fans scream his words back to him and encouraging safe stage dives between songs). Kindlon delivers magnificently again in that department. PRUDE‘s songs are almost an even split of those hard-luck flash fiction and social commentary.
“Mad Care”, “Business Ethics”, and “Slide 2 Me” continue down the same lyrical path as Cheer highlights “Weed Pin” and “Unlicensed Guidance Counselor”, and their darkly funny short stories pack a punch, particularly “Business Ethics”, whose punchline I will not spoil here. The circle of topics is expanded a little, adding some poignancy. On “Hey Listen”, he recalls not being able to shake seeing a bulletin board of missing teens, but he tackles it with his trademark matter-of-factness, ending with “I’m still thinking of this kid / And how some folks are lucky / And other folks are him.” “Yankee Trails” details a friend’s struggle to kick his bad habits with pathos but not pity.
One group of people Kindlon doesn’t have much use for are the keyboard warriors pointing fingers at strangers from their devices, rooting for failure, and passing judgment. On “The Bitters”, his articulate rage is summed up brilliantly in the line “Even parasites have the foresight not to kill their hosts” and the knockout punch: “Wishing failure on a stranger, but you’re still who you are.” Elsewhere, “Chow” advocates for picking one’s friends carefully, and “Demolition Man” bemoans our lack of purpose and tendency to overload ourselves with petty concerns.
The closer “Peer Review” warns of viewing life from a high horse, painting pictures of people it is easy for some to dismiss. But Kindlon sees the humanity and recognizes if he’s there, he’s part of it, too. Kindlon’s gift for vivid imagery and one-liners is matched with some of the band’s best hooks, and producer Jon Markson makes everything sound immediate and appropriately huge. This record sounds fantastic cranked up with the windows down.
Musically, there is no reason for Drug Church to mess with success. Their last release, Hygiene, refined the masterclass in melodic hardcore that the now-classic Cheer delivered. If you are a fan of their previous output, this will mostly sound like more of the same in the most optimal way, but it’s no retread or lazy victory lap. If anything, the band sounds like it’s coming for the crown. The chorus in “The Bitters” is massive and massively satisfying, and the song also contains some singing from Kindlon. “Yankee Trails” is downright catchy. It’s not hard to imagine Drug Church winning over some new fans with Prude. In another time, they’d be sharing space on alternative radio with the band’s influences.
Historically, hardcore is a tricky scene for groups who want to evolve. The audience’s undying passion for the scene is a double-edged sword–bands who color outside the lines aren’t always rewarded for growth and improved musicianship. But this is an unprecedented time of artistic growth and creativity in the scene. Artists like Drug Church, Gouge Away, and GEL are widening the genre’s appeal and attracting new and more diverse audiences. Classic releases such as Cheer sometimes become the gold standard by which all subsequent work is judged, and some take some pleasure in declaring something is not as good as that one classic. There may be people who bemoan the catchier arrangements, but that just means more room for the rest of us up front at the show.
For people who love heavy, hooky, intelligent songs and a big helping of gallows humor, as one of their t-shirts boasts, Drug Church is #1. PRUDE takes its place alongside Gouge Away’s Deep Sage as a highlight of the year in hardcore that could reach outside the flock.