Excide has released “Call Box,” the latest single from their second album ‘Bastard Hymns,’ out now via SharpTone Records. Tyler Washington, Gill Gonzalez, Gage Lanza, Caleb Hogue, and Jacob Paris crafted the track as the “click” moment for the record, with Washington explaining it most coherently synthesized every component of their desired outcome and became the stencil they worked backwards from during pre-production. The song features Cast Iron Hike grooves in the verses, a fuzzy Queens of the Stone Age bridge, and a massive ending nodding to Failure, representing Excide at its purest and best form to date as Washington’s personal declaration of gratitude and defiance to his influences.
‘Bastard Hymns’ marks the logical next step from the band’s debut ‘Deliberate Revolver,’ created without guidelines or barriers after accomplishing what they set out to do on the first record. Sonically inspired by late ’90s post-hardcore bands like Cast Iron Hike and Snapcase while siphoning melody and textural elements from Quicksand and Cave In, the band shifted gears to take influence from Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, and Failure, pushing the sonic needle into uncharted territory with Austin Coupe’s co-writing and production. The result is a fuzzy, rocky, groovy, angry record seeped in the woes of growing up in a hillbilly hellscape and living to tell the tale. Since their 2020 debut and 2022’s ‘Deliberate Revolver,’ which caught the attention of Brooklyn Vegan and Revolver, Excide signed with SharpTone Records and released the 2024 two-pack Humdinger, with Stereogum raving both tracks “go hard” and NO ECHO marveling at the band’s dynamic blend of ’90s-flavored hardcore and propulsive post-hardcore rhythms.