Scowl have been rapidly rising within and outside of the hardcore scene for the past few years, and now they’ve inked a deal with the indie rock-oriented label Dead Oceans (home of Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, etc). Their first single for the new label is “Special,” an alt-rock/post-hardcore song that picks up where the catchiest moments of last year’s excellent Psychic Dance Routine EP left off. Like the EP, the new song was produced by Will Yip, and it was mixed by Rich Costey, whose work with big-name alt-rock bands like Foo Fighters and Weezer makes him a good fit for Scowl sounding bigger and catchier than ever. The song kinda sounds like a cross behind ’90s Garbage and Sing the Sorrow-era AFI; it feels like a hit, and it’s still got the edge of a band that came up in the hardcore scene.
“The lyrics are about threatening the audience by asking ‘what do you really want?’ in clear desperation to answer my own question ‘What do I really want?,'” says vocalist Kat Moss. “But the answer is simple, I want to feel alive.” Check out the song and its video below.
Read our 2023 Scowl feature and listen to our podcast episode with Kat for more. Earlier this year, Kat and Mannequin Pussy’s Marisa Dabice appeared together on Destroy Boys’ new song “You Hear Yes.”