The Endorphins rage against the content machine with ‘Myopic Dystopia’
Boston psych-punk band unleashes fiery new single on Friday, October 21
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New album ‘Nothing Is Real’ set for November 11 release
Listen to September single ‘Voyager Of A Daydream’ on Spotify
Photo Credit: Matt Bass Media
BOSTON, MA [October 21, 2022] – When The Endorphins spend time on the internet, the Boston band, like a lot of us, doesn’t particularly like what they see as they scroll. So the psych-punk quartet channeled their thoughts not into an angry rant on social media, but through a blistering new single “Myopic Dystopia,” The Endorphins’ latest rock and roll rager that hits the streams on Friday, October 21.
And like last month’s fiery “Voyager Of A Daydream,” this new single will be featured on The Endorphins forthcoming sophomore album Nothing Is Real, set for self-release on November 11. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Alex Allinson at The Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, “Myopic Dystopia” is a powderkeg of a tune that’s not only a hostile takedown of what the internet has done to us as a society and as people, but an adrenalized garage rock predictor of what’s to come.
“This is one of the more personal songs on the record,” says singer and guitarist Matt Bass. “It was one of those I had in my head before writing anything down. It's basically a song about my frustrations and concerns about these times. I spend way too much time dwelling on stupid shit, but there's this weird feeling of hopelessness a lot of people seem to be feeling these days, but we are so distracted by so many things to realize it. We're so overexposed to content and advertising to the point where it seems it’s created this mindless scroll of absorption we all do. It just feels like we're heading to this very gray era, algorithms are deciding everything we see, feels like we're passing into narrow visions of our individuality. All of the decisions are being made for us.”
And Bass is seeing first-hand how our content- and algorithm-culture is impacting musicians, creativity, and art. The album title of The Endorphins’ new record, Nothing Is Real, is derived from these feelings, and that phrase is pulled from a lyric in “Myopic Dystopia.”
“It's really disheartening to see so many artists/musicians have to jump through all these hoops just to get their content seen. Social media has always been a game, but it feels like it's demanding a certain thing out of people these days.” He says, “Instead of painting, recording music, taking photos, whatever the outlet may be, now people are all being forced to do the exact same thing just to not lose their audience- which in a lot of cases they've spent years building. It's concerning and it freaks me out, especially where it will go. This song just boils all those feelings and emotions down.”
And now they are spilling out of the speakers. Nothing Is Real follows last year’s The Anomic Aphasia EP, and is The Endorphins’ first new long player since 2019’s debut Dementia Paralytica. They’ll be showing the new songs off at a series of live shows now through the album release, including appearances October 16 at Bone Up Brewing in Everett; a performance on Wave Radio Boston on October 28; and a November 28 romp at The Silhouette Lounge in Allston.
What began as a solo project from Bass in 2014 rounded out into a fully-formed quartet a few short years later, The Endorphins lineup now featuring Jordan Scarborough on guitar, Austin Wilson on bass, and Jeff Walsh on drums, the foursome all contributing to the songwriting process.
“It's a new era for the band,” Bass says. “A new era to be a musician really. We're less concerned with some of the things that concerned us a few years ago. With this song and the entire album, it let us approach things differently. Post-Covid it feels sort of like the wild wild west, especially with independent venues disappearing, being replaced with these huge corporate places that don't support the local scenes. We really just want make the best fucking records we can.”
And so far it’s getting noticed. “Voyager Of A Daydream” was picked up by indie and college radio both in their hometown of Boston and around the globe, earning airplay on a host of stations including SiriusXM’s Underground Garage. Rock And Roll Fables called the track “a driving slab of alt heaviness that's pretty dang epic”; Turn Up The Volume heralded the quartet as the second-coming of Hüsker Dü; and If It’s Too Loud praised its “big fuzzed out sound that is just waiting to be played in theaters and arenas.”
Part of that large sound is just an extension that Bass and the rest of The Endorphins are feeling on a daily basis as they navigate the real world, coming together as band to create the best music they can, taking inspiration from ‘90s alternative rock; late-‘00s/early-’10s bands and projects like Ty Segall, Jay Reatard, Fidlar, Oh Sees, and Bass Drum of Death; and all the things we see as we scroll the internet each day.
“‘Myopic Dystopia’ is meant to make the listener think a little more, whereas ‘Voyager’ is more fierce and meant to rock-out to,” Bass notes. “It’s a little more straightforward than the other songs on the record. Style-wise I think the two singles complement each other pretty well; we experimented with a ton of sounds throughout the record and I think this one is one of the better examples of that.”
But it’s also hard to get away from what inspired the song to begin with.
“It feels like the country is getting to a tipping point, it's either going to turn into a literal myopic dystopia, or things are going to get better,” he adds. “Especially with the midterms coming up, it's going to unveil more of the painting. So it sort of feels fitting for this one to be the lead up to the album.”
Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to The Endorphins at theendorphinsma@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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‘Myopic Dystopia’ single artwork:
Art Credit: Matt Bass Media
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The Endorphins are:
Matt Bass: Guitar and vocals
Jordan Scarborough: Guitar
Austin Wilson: Bass
Jeff Walsh: Drums
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‘Myopic Dystopia’ production credits:
Written by The Endorphins
Recorded, Mixed, Mastered by Alex Allinson at The Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, MA
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Media praise for The Endorphins’ ‘Voyager Of A Daydream’:
“Voyager Of A Daydream” can be heard on Banks Radio Australia, Blood Makes Noise, BumbleBee Radio, Code Zero Radio, Enigma Online, Fuzzed Out Boston (WZBC), If It’s Too Loud, Indie Radio YFM, Marc’s Alt-Rock Playground (Mark Skin Radio), Original Music Showcase (Mark Skin Radio), Rising With Skybar (WMFO), Rock N Roll Fables, Sunshine Music iRadio, The Rodney Bingenheimer Show on SiriusXM’s Underground Garage, Turn Up The Volume, and other fine shows and stations.
“...a driving slab of Alt heaviness that's pretty dang epic in our opinion.” – Rock N Roll Fables
“Nobody told me that Minnesota‘s buzz and fuzz legends Hüsker Dü are back with a new name and with a new line-up of Boston psychedelic noisemakers who rock themselves into space with this brand new jagged jackhammer. ‘Voyager Of A Dream’ is a multi-guitar-layered missile stoked up by four full-on cylinders. Whipped-up stuff for pandemonium-addicted ears.” – Turn Up The Volume
“Boston's The Endorphins are making alternative rock that merges the more alternative side of the genre with the more mainstream side. Their latest single, "Voyager of a Daydream," has a big fuzzed out sound that is just waiting to be played in theaters and arenas. While it keeps the indie vibe of predecessors like Husker Du, it's just too big of a sound to be kept in tiny, dingy clubs.” – If It’s Too Loud
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Press Contact: michael@publisist.co or theendorphinsma@gmail.com
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