Los Angeles based shoegaze band Teenage Wrist have been releasing music since 2015. They’re gearing up for the release of their second full-length album Earth Is a Black Hole via Epitaph Records, available on February 12, 2021. “When we started making music in 2014, we found ourselves in the middle of this grunge revival which was really cool. But for this record we felt like we needed to push past that in a way and get a little more aggressive. We wanted to be more of a rock band this time around,” the band says on the making of the new album.

Last year, Teenage Wrist saw a major lineup change with the departure of their original front man, Kamtin Mohager.  Guitarist Marshall Gallagher stepped up as the band’s new singer and got to work writing new songs shaping a new era for Teenage Wrist. Fresh songs under Gallagher’s direction like the power ballad “Yellowbelly” and dreamy “Wear U Down” head in more of a shoegaze direction to the likes of Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine. The band says about their new direction: “While Chrome Neon Jesus explored growing up and starting to see the world the way it was, Earth Is A Black Hole focuses more on the potential that we all have to transmute our past into something positive.”

The music video for the new album’s title track “Earth Is A Black Hole” features Gallagher front and center with band members in paper mâché masks made by Calder Greenwood and various virtual backdrops. The video was directed by Lindsey Nico Mann. The chorus, “It’s just a sign of the times / Where do we go when the river runs dry? / It never entered your mind / Where do we go when the river runs dry?” offers a bleak question to listeners. Watch here:

“Silverspoon” is another track off Earth Is A Black Hole with a shoegaze meets emo sound and a simple yet beautiful melody. The lyrics in the chorus, “Will you come back when all this is over? / When the sickness has tattooed your shoulders / And you just don’t wanna feel like you’re wasting all this life” bring to mind the hardship involved when loving someone who is depressed. Take a listen here:

Their debut album Chrome Neon Jesus was recorded by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Carlos De La Garza (Paramore, Jimmy Eat World).  The album explores the emotional terrain of feeling small in this vast world. “Stoned Alone” is a popular song off the album, with lyrics like “The world stares in judgement, inside me, and I’m still sitting here bored and alone,” encapsulating that feeling of being a speck on this earth. Take a listen to the dreamy tack here:

Look out for the full release of Earth Is A Black Hole, out on February 12, 2021.