(jangly/power pop punk from mastermind Nick Vicario, w/ shared live members of Hotline TNT, Poison Ruin, Pardoner)
Announces New Album Speculative Fiction
Coming July 3 via Smoking Room
Releases Lead Single “Dog Years”
Photo By Emily Vicario
Growing old sucks, but there comes a point in your life when it becomes a necessity to ignore the pull to constantly wild out. “When this band started in LA, it was a crazy time in my life,” says Smirk mastermind Nick Vicario. “I was crashing cars, doing drugs– I was doing horrible things and destroying my life.”
On Smirk’s forthcoming album Speculative Fiction, due July 3 via Smoking Room records, Vicario deals with a new twist on an age-old theme for punk rock: unrest in the suburbs. Instead this version of unrest deals with looking back on past indiscretions and dealing with their repercussions– disruption of the old life, settling into the new and the reflection that comes with it. These thoughtful lyrics and themes, when paired with Vicario’s guitar pop confection, makes for a unique juxtaposition. “When I was writing ‘Speculative Fiction’, a lot of that dealt with the ‘old me’ and some of the crazy life choices I made while abusing substances,” recalls Vicario. “So while the record is partially about the ‘old me,’ it’s also very much about putting them in my current world and the new set of problems that come from that.”
On lead single “Dog Years” Smirk digs into dark times spent alone, tossing and turning with your mind boiling over with invasive thoughts and regret. “There's a lot of burnout, isolation and going through the motions now with my new life,” admits Vicario. “It also deals with suicidal ideation and not wanting to bother my friends, which is about self-isolation and the spiral that comes with it.” The track kicks off with a twangy, clean tone riff reminiscent of the work of Jeffrey Lee Pierce / Gun Club crossed with Mission of Burma. With primitive synth tones bubbling underneath and featuring a positively incendiary guitar solo powered by dueling leads.
Listen / Share / Playlist "Dog Years": Bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music
Vicario has a deep history with punk rock. Growing up in Portland, OR in the early 2000s, he was engrained in the scene that birthed Poison Idea and Wipers, playing in bands at an early age and hob-knobbing with members of Tragedy and Criminal Damage in cover bands and even on the gridiron. At age 12, his first band The Diskords were the toast of Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll illuminati, leading to several releases and The Exploding Hearts taking them under their wing. Playing in hardcore bands like Cower eventually led him to indie pop band Wild Ones, who released two records across eight years, the latter of which landed on Topshelf Records. After stints with Public Eye, Cemento, Crisis Man and others, in addition to touring with Surfer Blood and Dreamdecay, Vicario decided to focus his energies on his solo project, Smirk, dropping two albums S/T in 2021 and Material in 2022.
On Speculative Fiction Vicario is restarting personally and musically. For the latter, Smirk is slowing things down, taking a more measured, power-pop approach, and straying away from the speed-y punk that marked earlier releases. The result is decidedly more mid-paced, reflecting the works of Big Star and The Paul Collins Beat as much as early Stiff releases, but filtered through the DIY spirit of Guided by Voices. “I wanted to be more deliberate and have my music reflect what I listen to,” recalls Vicario. “In the past I was more focused on just making fast punk, but I wanted to bring in my current musical influences even though they're still rooted in classic punk, and throw in a bit of pop and metal here and there. And definitely be more thoughtful in my lyrics.”
Written entirely by Vicario, Speculative Fiction is Smirk’s third full-length album overall and calls upon some old friends to help round out the record – names like Ross Farrar (Ceremony), Max Smadja (RIXE), Ryan Mangione-Smith (Advertisement), and current members of the live incarnation of Smirk, who play in bands like Hotline TNT, Poison Ruin, and Pardoner. Recorded mainly in his home studio, Vicario enlisted Ian Rose to record a few tracks from the effort at Daisy Chain studios in Brooklyn while Andy Oswald handled mixing for the bulk of the record.
With Speculative Fiction, life imitates art. Smirk slows things down, retools and gets meticulous– making deliberate decisions with respect to songwriting, approach, and collaboration to execute a new vision for Vicario. The result is a refined, focused and less chaotic approach to punk with an eye on pop-sensibility, mirroring Vicario’s new lifestyle outside of the fast lane and behind a white picket fence.
Pre-Save / Pre-Order Speculative Fiction
Speculative Fiction Tracklist:
01 - Greetings
02 - Victimry
03 - Cheap Greed
04 - Going Off To Die
05 - Sistine Junk
06 - Dog Years
07 - I Shall Be Released
08 - Perfect World
09 - Abide
10 - Ritual Torture
11 - Interlude
12 - Shit Song
13 - Crime Pays
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