BOSTON, MA [July 26, 2024] – By now everyone knows that old adage about making albums, about how a band has its entire life to craft the first one but only a year or two to write the second. It’s a cautionary tale built around creative pressure, unforgiving deadlines, and how a songwriter is now saddled with the expectation to not only maintain, but build upon, any success of the band’s debut.
Already Dead do not give a fuck about any of that.
Instead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Dan Cummings has taken an inspired approach in creating Something Like A War, Already Dead’s relentless and confrontational new album set for release on Friday, July 27 on CD and streaming. He’s assembled his crew, leaned in to the energy around him, and allowed the seeds of his songwriting to take a louder, more aggressive shape than the Boston punk band’s 2022 debut album My Collar Is Blue.
“At the time of creating and recording My Collar Is Blue, Already Dead was a project,” Cummings says. “This time around, we’re a band creating an album. We have a vibe when we play together live, where inspiration comes on the spot for a new melody or drum fill. We knew what we stand for as a band and what time of sound and message we wanted to capture and put on record.”
Led by a fiery May rallying cry of a single in “The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue,” which was premiered by The Spill Magazine and hailed by GBH’s The Culture Show, WBUR Boston’s NPR, and a host of independent blogs and radio stations around New England and beyond, the unapologetic Something Like A War is a statement of purpose. And like the gang vocals that permeate through the record, which showcases the band’s trademark punk rock diversity, there are many who have Cummings’ back as Already Dead prepare to make an even greater dent in the world.
Something Like A War packs 14 songs of punk fury fueled by aggression, observation and self reflection, and the battles we all face from external forces and internal demons. The title track, a ska-punk powderkeg that boasts Already Dead’s tireless, yet diverse, nature, hits the streams on June 28. “Something Like A War,” the single, is a missile of a song that clocks in at under two minutes. And might just create a new wave of ska-punk on its own.
“It’s about our personal battles – we all know ‘em, we all have ‘em,” Cummings says of the Something Like A War title track. “The struggle we go through to make the right decisions, day in and day out. Accepting we will make mistakes along the way. But still fighting every day, sometimes to amend the sins of yesterday. This and ‘Spirit’ represent the vibe I think the album encapsulates. Lyrically they have themes of social commentary and self-reflection, and musically both are on the harder side.”
Something Like A War, both the song and the album, brims with the type of intensity we all need in facing our daily lives – and maintains the Already Dead working class ethos, positioned steadfast as a voice for labor movements and working class solidarity. And besides, there’s no chance of a sophomore slump when the moniker is nicked from baseball, yet another way Already Dead are embedded in Boston culture.
“I was watching the Ken Burns documentary on baseball,” Cummings admits, “and heard the Ty Cobb quote about how ‘every game is something like a war’. It immediately resonated with me for a few reasons. First it just sounds badass [laughs]. But also to describe approaching something with that kind of intensity and determination struck a chord.”
And that’s something Cummings knows all too well. Something Like A War is a comprehensive and expansive album that lyrically touches on social commentary and self-reflection. But it’s also one of collaboration: Guitarist Brandon Barlett has taken on co-vocalist duties, adding some snarl to the band’s already incendiary sound; drummer Nick Cali has found a dynamic rhythm in applying the type of backbeat needed to hold this machine together; and new recruit bassist Brian Ferrazzani has helped provide a richer, fuller sound, as well as lineup versatility.
Beyond the band, the Already Dead crew rolls deep, with each contributor an honorary member: Engineer Jimmy Corbett, who recorded the record at the Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, Massachusetts; longtime video collaborator Roberto Terrones of Berto Media, who created “The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue” music video; longtime confidant and lyricist BOS The Rapper; and designer Mark Saffie of Saffie Design, who crafts the Already Dead single and album artwork, as well as logos.
The team around Already Dead helps sharpen the message, the approach, and the directive. They’re the ones who knock before Already Dead kicks the fucking door down.
“Musically, we’re just going for it,” Cummings says. “We are inspired by a lot of music, which can find its way into our songs.”
Already Dead Music – website
“This working-class punk turbo canned 7 working-class punk anthems for working-class people who wear their working-class identity on their sleeves. Loud and proud. 7 sucker punches about and for natural-born blue collar workers.
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