Pick up a vinyl copy of Heart Attack Man's new EP in our store.
Cleveland's Heart Attack Man are back with an EP followup to 2019's Fake Blood, and despite the short running time, this isn't just something to tide you over while you await LP3. It's the most drastic musical departure they've made yet. Fake Blood channelled '90s power pop and pop punk through a lens of 2000s emo, but Thoughtz & Prayerz is on some totally other shit. Pantera-inspired opener "Puke" is nearly in metalcore territory, the title track channels the sludgy post-hardcore of a band like Unsane (or, as the band puts it, "a weird Fugazi and Godlfesh love child"), and Eric Egan's lyrical content is more blunt than ever. "Thoughtz & Prayerz" takes shots at the do-nothing politicians who offer thoughts and prayers instead of taking action, and "Cool 2 Me" -- which sounds like a better version of mid 2000s Weezer -- is a scathing, sarcastic takedown of people who discredit sexual assault victims when they're friends with the accuser.
The EP still has catchy stuff too; "Pitch Black" starts out as jangly '90s alt-rock before turning into the hardcore-infused pop punk of bands like The Movielife and Title Fight, and "Leap Year" sounds like Does This Look Infected?-era Sum 41 with a modern indie-punk makeover. Thoughtz and Prayerz follows the same emo-to-aggressive-rock pipeline as Citizen's Everybody Is Going To Heaven and Microwave's Death Is a Warm Blanket, and like both of those albums did, it feels like a fresh, appealing start. There's so much going on within these five songs, with so many possible directions Heart Attack Man could go in next. I can't wait to see what they come up with.
Thoughtz & Prayerz is out today via Triple Crown, and Eric gave us a breakdown of all five tracks. Read on to stream the EP and see what he had to say. Pick up a vinyl copy in our store.
"Puke"
With this song I really just wanted to write something reminiscent of “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys and “Cowboys From Hell” by Pantera — something that makes a statement right away and sounds like wrestling music.
"Thoughtz & Prayerz"
The guitar lead in this song started off as a joke lead I’d play at practice, but over time it evolved into a real song. I wanted to go for a weird Fugazi and Godflesh love child kind of vibe with this one.
"Cool 2 Me"
I absolutely hate when you’re talking about someone doing something heinous and whoever you’re talking to says something along the lines of “That’s really weird, because they’ve always been cool to me,” like bro this straight up is not about you and nice people can still do terrible things. I came up with the bendy guitar riff for this one on accident when I was changing my strings.
"Pitch Black"
This song is about human missteps in overcoming trauma. Personal growth doesn’t always happen in a perfectly linear fashion and that’s okay!!!!!!
"Leap Year"
“Back like a leap year” is my favorite simile I’ve ever come up with; I’ve got bars on this track for real dude. With this song I thought it would be pretty neat-o if we we went for a Heart Attack Man wearing a Sum 41 Halloween costume kind of vibe, y’know?
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Get Heart Attack Man's new EP here.
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