We’ve all wondered what it’d be like — to be an animal of some sort, just living life by instinct, your purpose woven into your DNA. That’s the conceit behind Drug Church’s new single, “Demolition Man” off the punk band’s fifth studio album PRUDE.
“Demolition Man” crashes in, quite fittingly, on a wave of deliciously dumb riffs that belie the painfully insightful opening lyrics, which see frontman Patrick Kindlon roaring: “Saw a video of some working dogs/Each so happy to do what he does/Muddy fur chasing herds four-wheeler rides/Running sheep smile wide deep sleep full life/But mankind? He’s got no sense of purpose/But mankind? It’s all call centers and Percocets.”
Bleak, but it certainly hits home during a time of political unrest and the rise of AI. Or, you know, any given Tuesday in America.
“[This is] a song about envying dogs because they know what they’ve gotta do each day,” Kindlon tells Rolling Stone. “I’m sure dogs are often confused, but they always have the north star of instinct. People live without it.” The accompanying video features a cameo by Biff Wiff (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and the comic that Kindlon writes, Frontiersman.
Over the last 10-plus years, Drug Church has mingled catchy hardcore with clever lyrics about the complexities of human nature that are equally biting and tender.
“I wanted to avoid some of the topics I’ve been hammering for years, but I almost can’t; I’m limited to what interests me, or upsets me, or grabs my attention,” Kindlon says of the new album. “So there’s certainly classic Drug Church stuff — people derailing their lives, a strong pull to some type of individualism, frustration with mob mentality, this idea that maybe community isn’t what it’s sold as — but I would say that this album approaches it from sort of a sad storytelling way. This one feels more earnest to me.”
The band’s 2022 album, Hygiene, scored a Song You Need to Know from RS for stand-out single “Million Miles of Fun.” PRUDE drops on Oct. 4 via Pure Noise.
