Iron Lung Release Triptych Singles / Video:
"Purgatory Dust" / "Virus" / "Purgatory Dust (Finale)”
Adapting // Crawling Out April 18 via Iron Lung Records
What We Like Fest - Celebrating 18 Years of Iron Lung Records April 18 - 20 in Seattle + LA, SF and More
L-R Jon Kortland (Guitar / Vocals), Jensen Ward (Drums / Vocals)
Photo By Christina Hamilton
On Adapting // Crawling, the first new album in 12 years from hardcore / DIY vets IRON LUNG (duo Jensen Ward and Jon Kortland) take head shots at mental health with specific emphasis on the exacting tolls the past five years have taken on humanity. The “song-infected-with-another-song” concept behind Adapting // Crawling’s centerpiece and triptych singles “Purgatory Dust” / “Virus” / “Purgatory Dust (Finale)” was one IRON LUNG had always wanted to try. “At its core, ‘Purgatory Dust’ is about people not taking any precautions during the pandemic, causing even more of a spread and way more of a stupid panic,” Jensen explains. “Then we introduce ‘Virus’ in the middle of the tune and let it wreak havoc for almost too long. When ‘Dust’ comes back it deals with the fallout from infection be it death or long term illness. That behavior really freaked me out during Covid, probably because I have studied the Polio epidemic a ton over the course of this band and people behaved pretty much exactly the same way back in the 50s. The echoes of it are staggering really. Same idiocy. Same willful ignorance and hostility toward reason. Human nature is insane. I am surprised our species has lived this long.”
From the beginning, Iron Lung have ethically / sonically approached the world: Do It Yourself, obscure, extreme, maladjusted and utterly free from the constraints of “music” or, more widely, rules in general. Each record has been written around a concept.
Adapting // Crawling acts as a sliced cadaver with each song a newly peeled layer exposing the corrosive effects of deep depression, a failed healthcare system, heavy grief from multiple friends/family deaths, paranoia and distrust of government, meaningless existence and loss. So much loss. When time disappeared between 2020 and 2023, the loss of function, of relation, of drive, of everything was incalculable. Life goes on but we lose a little more each day. To help cope with that crushing reality, Iron Lung finally sat down and wrote about their pain.
In order to not be consumed by it, they built a wall around themselves utilizing an “us versus them” modality in the lyrics. All of the band’s points of view are from the “we” stance and are funneled through their long established lens of antiquated medical procedures and devices. The only times that mode breaks is when quoting an outsider view before rejecting and destroying it. The power belongs to Iron Lung and by association, to the allied listener.
Adapting // Crawling arrives April 18 via the band’s own esteemed imprint, Iron Lung Records. In addition to the release and performances confirmed throughout 2025, Iron Lung celebrate the label’s 18th anniversary simultaneously with a three day fest - What We Like - which takes over Seattle April 18 - 20. The weekend includes 26 exceptional bands from all around the globe, most of them with releases in the Iron Lung Records fam, plus two films, an art show and local cuisine. The event takes over three venues - all shows, all ages. Tickets and more info are here. For a full list of live dates, see below.
Adapting // Crawling Track List:
01. Adapting
02. Internal Monologue
03. Lifeless Life
04. Shift Work
05. Poisoned Sand
06. Everything is a Void (Album Version)
07. A Veiled Eye
08. Perfect Ending
09. A Loving Act
10. Purgatory Dust
11. Virus
12. Purgatory Dust (Finale)
13. Acres of Skin
14. Hospital Tile
15. Cog II
16. HeLa Cells
17. Failure
18. Survived By…
Iron Lung Live Dates:
Mar 07: San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall #
Mar 15: Orlando, FL - Will’s Pub
Apr 18-20: Seattle, WA - The Vera Project * (WHAT WE LIKE Weekend)
Jun 13-15: Copenhagen DK - Ungdomshuset (K-Town Hardcore Fest)
Jul 11: Sydney, AU
Jul 12: Sydney, AU
Jul 13: Brisbane, AU
Jul 18: Melbourne, AU
Jul 19: Frankston, AU
Jul 20: Perth, AU
Jul 24: Sendai, JP
Jul 25: Tokyo, JP
Jul 26: Osaka, JP
Jul 27: Nagoya, JP
Jul 28: Yokohama, JP
Jul 29: Tokyo, JP
Sep 06: Los Angeles, CA - CY Fest
# w/ Ceremony
* w/ Slant, Bootlicker, Physique, Direct Threat and Crawl Space
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