Chat Pile release new single & video ‘PEN I SMALL’
Chat Pile release new single & video ‘PEN I S MALL’ and tease new record ‘Who Loves the Sun’ ahead of a September 4 release date via The Flenser Records – in a world full of disposable content and algorithms; this track arrives as a real shock to the system.
Chat Pile have never been a band to shy away from wearing humour on their sleeve and showing their love of a joke: song title ‘PEN I S MALL’ goes for the Fat Dog school of thought and offers a tongue in cheek way to premier new album ‘Who Loves the Sun’. It’s primal, a raw working man’s-type metal approach that is sure to encourage people to embrace their sheer outpouring of rage and a real dealbreaker. The quality and lyrical relevance is unmatched – capable of fine-tuning a sense of destruction, self-breakdown and systematic death and rebirth.
Their record ‘God’s Country’ leaned into a sense of American dread and despair; ‘Cool World’ felt like a global approach on the sphere. Their new record is described; and fits the billing, of “the heavies Chat Pile song to date.” Both “The song and title refer to a stretch of time when Raygun was working as a maintenance man at one of the local shopping malls here in OKC. He screamed himself into a pretty brutal headache tracking this one if I remember correctly," says Stin. Ray B. continues: "If survival wasn’t so brutal in the United States, a maintenance job at a local mall could in theory be a fun gig… Of course, the awful beast known as Capitalism is extremely rickety with not enough to truly go around in fair share as those in the lower and even middle positions know all to well."
The scrappy band that has emerged from the 2020s underground has been a real driving force in the Oklahoma City-based quartet. It’s real; rich and organic – Ray B’s vocals offer a sense of growing catharsis and the raw human essence that is increasingly detached and fleeting really shines through. L. Manhole’s guitar riffs especially on ‘PEN I S MALL’ reads like a work of art – and the crushing, crass drums that Cap’n Ron brings to the table really sends this song punctuating holes through the audience’s eardrums.
Stin is aware of Chat Pile’s status as an American band: “I’ve always felt,” he says, “that Chat Pile is such an American concept thematically, but it seems like that’s no particularly true – people all over the world are resonating with what we have to say.” Its imagery of coastlines and of the world’s inaction to climate change and the dread of being stuck in a dead end job is summarised not only on ‘PEN I SMALL’ but across the hole record – sonically and lyrically as aggressive as ever; perfectly fitting in with Ray’s habit of walking us through a back catalogue of films mid set that would make even the most astute of film buffs sit up and take note: this guy knows what he’s talking about. For all their heaviness – Chat Pile are a riot live – a sense of fun and bravado that comes with the experience of a band that have navigated a difficult second album.
You can watch the video for ‘PEN I SMALL’ here.
Live dates:
UK/EU
08/06 - Ancora, PT - Sonic Blast
08/08 - Katowice, PL - OFF Festival
08/09 - Prague, CZ - Fuchs2 ~
08/10 - Budapest, HU - A38 ~
08/11 - Vienna, AT - Arena (supporting HEALTH and Carpenter Brut)
08/12 - Munich, DE - Live/Evil ~
08/14 - Col Du Lein, CH - Palp Festival
08/19 - Dublin, IRE - Button Factory ~
08/20 - Dublin, IRE - Button Factory ~
08/22 - Bristol, UK - Arctangent Festival
NA
09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre = (SISU Fundraiser Fest)
09/17 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +^
09/19 - Chicago, IL - Riot Fest
09/20 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre +&
09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Metro Music Hall + &
09/25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo + &
09/27 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall + &
09/29 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades +
09/30 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom + &
10/03 – San Diego, CA – Music Box + &
10/04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco + &
10/06 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater + &
10/08 – Austin, TX – Radio/East + &
10/09 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall + &
10/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater + &
11/05 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre + %
11/06 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre + %
11/08 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall + %
11/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel + %
11/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer + %
11/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat + %
11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Underground + %
11/15 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade + %
11/16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl + %
11/18 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall + %
11/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre + %
11/21 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall + %
11/22 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada + %
~ with Ragana
+ with Soul Glo
^ with Prize Horse
& with Virga
% with Shallowater
= with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, Primal Brain
Tickets are available here.
Photo Credit: Ryan Lawson