“When this band started in LA, it was a crazy time in my life,” says Smirk founder Nick Vicario. “I was crashing cars, doing drugs– I was doing horrible things and destroying my life.” Smirk will release their new album Speculative Fiction, on July 3 via Smoking Room records (They Are Gutting a Body of Water).

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. These thoughtful lyrics and themes, when paired with Vicario’s guitar playing. “When I was writing ‘Speculative Fiction’, a lot of that dealt with the ‘old me’ and some of the crazy life choices I made while abusing substances,” recalls Vicario. “So while the record is partially about the ‘old me,’ it’s also very much about putting them in my current world and the new set of problems that come from that.”

“Dog Years” sees Smirk dig into dark times spent alone, tossing and turning with your mind boiling over with invasive thoughts and regret. “There’s a lot of burnout, isolation and going through the motions now with my new life,” admits Vicario. “It also deals with suicidal ideation and not wanting to bother my friends, which is about self-isolation and the spiral that comes with it.” The track kicks off with a twangy, clean tone riff reminiscent of the work of Jeffrey Lee Pierce / Gun Club crossed with Mission of Burma.

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.

Smirk
Speculative Fiction
Tracklist
Smoking Room Records

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

Pre-order Speculative Fiction by Smirk HERE