Upchuck, the Atlanta punk quintet of vocalist KT, guitarists Mikey Durham and Hoff, bassist Ausar Ward, and drummer/vocalist Chris Salado, announce their third LP and Domino debut I’m Nice Now, due out 3 October. The album was produced and mixed by Ty Segall at Sonic Ranch Studio and mastered by Heba Kadry.
As KT puts it, there’s never been a moment when she didn’t have rage. As the singer of Upchuck, the Georgia punk band whose music is as sharp as a scythe, KT has felt fierce energy inside her well before she had the band as an outlet through which to channel it. As a Black woman in America, rage has been the tint on the window through which she’s had to view the world. The experience of listening to Upchuck is to feel a distillation of that existence, all of its pain, sorrow, anger, and fear translated through raw punk music.
Perhaps, after so many years of wading in the muck, KT is over it. Upchuck’s Domino debut is I’m Nice Now. But don’t mistake newfound niceness for weakness. It’s self preservation. “In this world of constant distractions and stressors it’s important to keep your mind, body, and spirit sane and sound enough to continue through this seemingly never-ending fight,” she says.
The band shares two singles from the album, ‘Forgotten Token’ and ‘Un Momento’, both with videos directed by Ian Cone.
On ‘Forgotten Token’ KT addresses the sudden loss of her sister during the recording of I’m Nice Now and the way in which she was undervalued in her life and, in her death, by some, she became commodified. The song is a perfect expression of the mixture of anger and exasperation meticulously transformed into a taut punk song. “I just feel/Cuz I’m Black/It gets stacked/In a lost closet/Forgotten token,” sings KT. Of the song she says, “It’s just like another soft yell/yearn for remaining aware of how you’re treating others and what people mean to you. You can lose things easily and not care, thinking you’ll just get another one. But people aren’t objects.” The video underscores the dark side of gentrification and, in keeping with the song’s familial theme, features cameos from KT’s mother, grandmother, and brother.
‘Un Momento’ is one of three songs on the album featuring vocals from Chris. It starts with a thunderous drum roll, one that comes from his experience growing up performing cumbia music. He aims to blend that sound with Upchuck’s traditional punk to fuse something unique. The video co-stars his father and his son and is a celebration of his North Atlanta neighborhood of Little Mexico. The day after the video was shot, the neighborhood was raided, door to door, by ICE; people in the area are still afraid to go to work and leave their families. “Dame un momento,” Chris sings on the track, “para sufrir… para vivir… para pensar.. para volar.” Give me a moment, to suffer, to live, to think, to fly.
Upchuck Live Dates
August
7 – Le Pub, Newport
8 – The Social, Blackpool
9 – Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow
10 – The Grove, Newcastle
14 – Congés Annulés, Rotondes, Luxembourg, LU
15 – Cabaret Vert, Charleville, FR
16 – Pukkelpop Festival, Hasselt, BE
17 – Green Man Festival, Brecon, UK
19 – The Lanes, Bristol, UK
21 – Slachthuis, Haarlem, NL
22 – VERA, Groningen, NL
23 – Utrecht Loose Ends Festival, Utrecht, NL
28 – 30 – Muddy Roots Festival, Cookeville, TN
September
29 – Levitation, Austin, TX
29 – Ruins, Dallas, TX
October
1 – Launchpad, Alburquerque, NM
2 – The Underground (Nile), Mesa, AZ
3 – The Whistle Stop, San Diego, CA
4 – Sardine, San Pedro, CA
5 – The Echo, Los Angeles, CA
6 – Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, CA
8 – Star Theater, Portland, OR
9 – Black Lodge, Seattle, WA
10 – Shrine Social Club Basement, Boise, ID
11 – The DLC at Quarters, Salt Lake City, UT
13 – Moe’s Original BBQ & Bowl, Denver, CO
15 – Subterranean, Chicago, IL
16 – Third Man Records, Detroit, MI
17 – Bottlerocket Social Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
18 – Elsewhere (Zone One), Brooklyn, NY
20 – Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA
21 – DC9, Washington, DC
22 – Static Age, Asheville, NC
31 – Goat Farm, Atlanta, GA
November
4 – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, UK
5 – Pitchfork Festival @ Village Underground, London, UK
6 – Wharf Chambers, Leeds, UK
8 – Simple Things Festival, Bristol, UK
9 – YES, Manchester, UK
11 – Brussels Botanique, Brussels, BE
12 – Point Ephemere, Paris, FR
13 – Skate Cafe, Amsterdam, NL
14 – Hafenklang, Hamburg, DE
15 – Copenhagen Loppen, Copenhagen, DK
16 – Berghain Kantine, Berlin, DE
18 – Bumann & Sohn, Cologne, DE
19 – Bad Bon, Dudingen, CH
For more information on Upchuck please check their facebook and instagram.