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Music

Happy New Year! Here’s a Surprise New Jeff Rosenstock Album!

'POST-,' the punk singer's third studio album, came out on New Year's Day. It rules.
Photo by Erica Lauren

Restless punk idol Jeff Rosenstock surprise-released his third studio album early on New Year’s Day. POST- is Rosenstock’s first since 2016’s brilliant WORRY, and it’ll shake your amorphous sense of New Year’s apathy right off.

The record was written in the aftermath of the 2017 Presidential inauguration, when Rosenstock took himself to a double-wide trailer in the Catskills. A little fear and fury comes through early. “USA” is a breathless seven minutes that opens with a thesis statement of sorts: “Dumbfounded, downtrodden and dejected / Crestfallen, grief-stricken and exhausted / Trapped in my room while the house was burnin’ to the motherfuckin’ ground.” That terror is undercut, as always, by Rosenstock’s irrepressible melodies, and there are some straight-up pop moments too. “Melba” is a sad-sack love song with a hoarse, soaring chorus.

Rosenstock recorded the record with Jack Shirley (Joyce Manor, Deafheaven) in one 86-hour session in Palo Alto, CA. Rosenstock and his band—rounded out by John Dedomenici, Mike Huguenor, and Kevin Higuchi—played the songs to tape live, then invited friends like PUP, Laura Stevenson, Dan Potthast, and Chris Farren to fill out the songs.

You can download the album on a pay-what-you-like basis from Rosenstock’s Bandcamp page. Ten percent of all proceeds from the album will go to United for Puerto Rico, who provide aid and support to those affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. SO, listen to POST- below, then go buy it.

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