Smirk releases melancholic single and video “Abide” just one month ahead of his new album Speculative Fiction due July 3 on Smoking Room. The indie-leaning track feels like a lost B-Side from Surfer Rosa-era Pixies mixed with the twang of Gun Club and a solo out of the J Mascis playbook with lyrics that slide right into the album’s overarching theme of abandoning longstanding ties due to a new future on the horizon and for want of a fresh start.

On Speculative Fiction, Vicario deals with a new twist on an age-old theme for punk rock: unrest in the suburbs. Instead, this version of unrest deals with looking back on past indiscretions and dealing with their repercussions– disruption of the old life, settling into the new, and the reflection that comes with it.

Vicario has a deep history with punk rock. Growing up in Portland, OR, in the early 2000s, he was ingrained in the scene that birthed Poison Idea and Wipers, playing in bands at an early age and hob-knobbing with members of Tragedy and Criminal Damage in cover bands and even on the gridiron. At age 12, his first band, The Diskords, was the toast of Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll illuminati, leading to several releases and The Exploding Hearts taking them under their wing. Playing in hardcore bands like Cower eventually led him to indie pop band Wild Ones, who released two records across eight years, the latter of which landed on Topshelf Records. After stints with Public Eye, Cemento, Crisis Man, and others, in addition to touring with Surfer Blood and Dreamdecay, Vicario decided to focus his energies on his solo project, Smirk, dropping two albums, S/T in 2021 and Material in 2022.

Written entirely by Vicario, Speculative Fiction is Smirk’s third full-length album overall and calls upon some old friends to help round out the record – names like Ross Farrar (Ceremony), Max Smadja (RIXE), Ryan Mangione-Smith (Advertisement), and current members of the live incarnation of Smirk, who play in bands like Hotline TNT, Poison Ruin, and Pardoner. Recorded mainly in his home studio, Vicario enlisted Ian Rose to record a few tracks from the effort at Daisy Chain studios in Brooklyn while Andy Oswald handled mixing for the bulk of the record.

With Speculative Fiction, life imitates art. Smirk slows things down, retools, and gets meticulous– making deliberate decisions with respect to songwriting, approach, and collaboration to execute a new vision for Vicario. The result is a refined, focused, and less chaotic approach to punk with an eye on pop-sensibility, mirroring Vicario’s new lifestyle outside of the fast lane and behind a white picket fence.

Presave Speculative Fiction Here
Speculative Fiction Tracklist
01 – Greetings
02 – Victimry
03 – Cheap Greed
04 – Going Off To Die
05 – Sistine Junk
06 – Dog Years
07 – I Shall Be Released
08 – Perfect World
09 – Abide
10 – Ritual Torture
11 – Interlude
12 – Shit Song
13 – Crime Pays