Waking Stone have been building toward something with their debut album, and “Make Money” makes the strongest case yet for why this Washington DC band deserves your attention. It’s the fourth single from their forthcoming record, and it hits differently from everything that came before it. Where their earlier releases earned praise for their upbeat, hopeful energy and accessible sound, “Make Money” goes somewhere darker and more urgent.
The track is a direct, unfiltered takedown of corporate greed and the billionaire class gambling recklessly with everyone else’s future. It’s blunt, it’s heavy, and it’s exactly the kind of rock music that feels necessary right now. The lyrics don’t trade in abstraction. They paint a vivid picture of a society pushed to its limits by unchecked ambition, and the music matches that energy beat for beat.
Critics have already taken notice of Waking Stone’s earlier singles, pointing to their “palpable freedom,” “fresh energy,” and a sound that genuinely stands apart in the current modern rock landscape. “Make Money” doesn’t abandon that identity. It sharpens it, pushing the band’s signature high-energy approach into more intense and confrontational territory without losing any of the momentum that made those first three singles land.
The full album is on the way, and if “Make Money” is any indication of where Waking Stone are headed, it’s going to be worth the wait. Four singles in and this band is still accelerating.