Upchuck Release 'Freedoom' Single Ahead of Tour With Faye Webster

Atlanta’s Upchuck have unleashed their immediate and defiant new single, “Freedoom”.

The track races with flashing depictions of sprawling street protests, bodies ducking in and out of cover under the glare of police sirens – riffing upon the band’s lived experiences while  protesting against the state injustices that plague their hometown. “Freedoom” pounces with a sense of youthful hunger that convincingly drags the post-’68 fever-pitch spirit of The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” into the 21st century.

Frontwoman Kaila Thompson (KT) recalls, “Trump was up for re-election, COVID had just started, they had just killed Rashard Brooks at the Wendy's on the south side. And then they started bringing in tanks, which is just crazy to even say - there were tanks in downtown Atlanta. They were driving up kids after curfew, extended school buses full of swat teams, hanging out the windows with rubber-bullet-guns just pointing them out at us and laughing. From there they started gassing their own people, who really just wanted justice, and who were tired and fed up.”

“‘Freedoom’ is those nights of sneaking around the city trying to make the perfect turn so that you don't get trapped or grabbed up by whoever is around the corner. It’s about late night meetings in undisclosed places, of what to do next, and an overall feeling – it's being free but also dealing with hell.”

On the forefront of Atlanta’s thriving punk community, Upchuck are bound together by a purity of intention, an organic loyalty to a thick knot of uncalculated friendships, struggles, and desires. These are songs about the joy of continuing to live, songs that find each other in the rush of a crushing reality, propelling the listener onward towards a collective release.

Themes of surviving through the night, youth-blinded love and chaotic street protests are subsumed under a single unifying thread: the needs we have for one another, our shared hunger for connection. In a world saturated with arbitrary rules and paper-thin moralism, Upchuck offer freedom through sensation, a type of unserious transcendence found through the swirl of bodies melting into one another in the passion of dance.

Formed in 2018 through shared connections in their teeming skate scene, Upchuck’s musical aspirations have always been uncomplicated. They play for each other, and for anyone who is willing to move alongside them—there are no trappings of genre worship or social politicking in their sound, only an open spirit of friendly connection. 2022 saw the release of their first LP, Sense Yourself (Famous Class), which spread like wildfire across the scene and landed them tours alongside Amyl and the Sniffers, Negative Approach, OFF! and others.  

For their follow up, Upchuck absconded to SoCal to record Bite the Hand That Feeds, enlisting the production talents of Ty Segall. Upchuck credits Segall, who recorded the entire record live to tape over the span of five days, with helping to elevate the arrangements of their second record to bold new heights.

The album’s razor tight focus was forged in the fire of Upchuck’s live shows, speaking directly to the power of their in-person presence—these are songs meant to be heard pressed up against a barricade, blasted through dimed guitar amps placed so close to your ears that you can practically reach out and touch them.

Live footage of Upchuck’s set is an undeniable  spectacle within itself: before a single note is hit, oceans of teenage degenerates, punks, hoodie laden indie kids, and sneaker clad skaters. Upchuck places heavy emphasis upon the special quality of  these shared moments with the crowd, often putting on their own shows in repurposed locations. 

Speaking on the importance of live performance to the band’s overall outlook, KT does not mince words: “With all of the s life throws at you every day, sometimes I just need to release something—I need to feel freaky, to lean into my wild alter-ego. That’s what we want to  give other people too—we wanna create a space for people to come and work out whatever has been dragging them down, but  together, all at once.”

Lyrically, Bite the Hand That Feeds is passionately impressionistic, following the reflections of a charmingly unreliable narrator as she clocks the shortcomings of the world around her. Its heaviest moments are counteracted by bursts of goofy levity, injecting natural breaths of fresh air into the LP’s frantic cadence. The trials of moving from day to day are stripped of petty moralizing, clearing mental space to reflect upon the pleasures and desires that make it all worth going through in the first place. 

With Bite the Hand That Feeds, Upchuck isn’t trying to tell anyone how to live. Rather, they are simply trying to find a way to make life more worth living for both themselves and their friends—if the music compels you to move, you might as well consider yourself their friend too.

This Fall, Upchuck are back on the road, this time with frequent collaborator and friend, Faye Webster. Highlights include three nights supporting her at NYC’s Brooklyn Steele, two nights at D.C.’s 9:30 Club, Philadelphia, Boston and more including a hometown album release party at Aisle 5.

Upchuck Live Dates:

Sep 30: Athens, GA - September Days at Southern Brewing Company
Oct 13: Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5 (Record Release Show)
Oct 17: Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ~
Oct 18: Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ~
Oct 20: Boston, MA - Roadrunner ~
Oct 21: Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall ~
Oct 23: Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ~
Oct 24: Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ~
Oct 25: Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ~
Oct 27: Toronto, ON - History ~
Oct 29: Chicago, IL - The Riviera Theatre ~
Oct 30: Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue ~
Nov 16: Atlanta, GA - The Eastern ~
Nov 17: Atlanta, GA - The Eastern ~

~ w/ Faye Webster

Photo By Cory Jones

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