The Suicide Machines Re-emerge with Roger Lima-produced "Awkward Always" from First Album In 15 Years Revolution Spring (Fat Wreck Chords)
Detroit-based Ska Punks The Suicide Machines were initially active for 15 years from 1991-2006 and remained disbanded for about three years before reuniting in 2009. They've been actively playing "reunion" shows ever since and at a gig with The Code in May 2018, announced they were currently working on a new record. "In December 2019, Fat Mike dropped a list of albums that were coming out in 2020. One of them was The Suicide Machines and today, we finally get to unveil the details!" read an exclamatory press release from Fat Wreck Chords. Said Suicide Machines album, Revolution Spring, has a street date of Friday, March 27, 2020 and yesterday, we were unexpectedly treated to its lead-off single, "Awkward Always." Revolution Spring was recorded in "about 12 days" at Recordo Rancho, a studio run by Marc Jacob Hudson, who currently plays bass for Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers. The Suicide Machines' line-up heard across Revolution Spring includes frontman Jason "Jay" Navarro, drummer Ryan Vandeberghe, bassist Rich Tschirhart, and guitarist Justin Malek. Oddly enough, Malek is/was, also, the drummer in Navarro's post-Suicide Machines band, Hellmouth, as well.
Revolution Spring was produced by Roger "Lima" Manganelli of Less Than Jake fame, along with The Code frontman Marc Code; Lima & Code painstakingly whittled down 30 new songs The Suicide Machines wrote and recorded over the last few years into the 16 tracks now featured across Revolution Spring. According to Fat Wreck Chords, Revolution Spring, the band's seventh studio album and first since 2005's War Profiteering Is Killing Us All, is "full of blistering, rousing songs [that] finds the band on truly explosive and energetic form." "This album is legitimately pretty autobiographical," Jay Navarro explains. "A lot of it is very personal–about how I am and where I am now and how I got where I am now mentally. I kind of wanted to leave my children with an understanding of who I am as an older person. Maybe, years from now, when I've passed away, they can pick up the record and look at the lyrics and listen to it and, if they didn't already know exactly, go "okay, so this is what dad is about,'" he continued. The Suicide Machines' new single, "Awkward Always," is now available on digital streaming services. Revolution Spring is currently available for pre-order directly from Fat Wreck Chords and will see a wide release on Friday, March 2, 2020.