NC's Totally Slow offers up razor sharp, no-frills punk music, with angry lyrics that show how the personal is inseparable from the political when the country is on the brink of chaos. The band has combined the melodic anthems of 1980s SoCal bands like The Adolescents, Agent Orange and The Faction, with the skewed rawk of ‘90s San Diego bands Drive Like Jehu and Truman’s Water, and the righteous conviction of classic DC hardcore like Dag Nasty, Gray Matter and Fugazi.
Eddie Sanchez (Night!Night!, Solar Halos, The Love Language) has recently joined on bass, completing the current lineup which includes Andy Foster, Chuck Johnson, and Scott Hicks.
Having shared the stage with various acts, from Agent Orange to Laura Jane Grace to Man or Astroman, they bring a diverse musical experience to their audience.
Totally Slow's fourth LP 'The Darkness Intercepts will be released on March 22 via Refresh Records.
Stream the new single "Pistol Whip" HERE.
Pre-save 'The Darkess Intercepts' here:
https://refr.sh/darknessintercepts
Pre-order here:
https://totallyslow.bandcamp.com/album/the-darkness-intercepts
https://www.refreshrecs.com/products/778444-totally-slow-the-darkness-intercepts
Album Track Listing:
1. Crosshairs
2. Sins At My Back
3. The Lost Art Of Shutting Up
4. Future Burns
5. Corrupted
6. Kookslam
7. Pressing Charges
8. Pistol Whipped
9. Western Glenwood
10. Motorshed
11. F Is For Genius
Guitarist and vocalist Scott Hicks says “We wanted to find a more dynamic balance for this record. The track order wasn't taken lightly and there are lot of interesting samples and between-song transitions that I hope folks can find the time to receive fully as a whole piece. "Pistol Whip" is a tone-switch, and brings the BPM down a bit. The intensity level is still peaking but it still feels like breathing space - with lyrics conveying that we live inside of chaos and trying to find some peace in accepting the intractable nature of "being". So it's a sonic break and really an emotional break as well.
Sam Paulsen is one of my favorite people and musicians, so it was rad that she happened to visit when we were deep in the recording process. She sings backup on several songs and threw down some completely bonkers guitars on "Motorshed". We're always excited to collaborate and have our records include important people from our little community of like-minded artists and I love Sam so as far as I'm concerned she can be on any record I make in perpetuity”.
'The Darkness Intercepts' was recorded at The Sandwich Shoppe with Scotty Sandwich. Features collaborations with Noelle from Shehehe and Sam from Man or Astroman. Mastered by Mike Westbrook.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
April 6 - Chapel Hill NC with Teen Mortgage & Death Lens
May 4 - Greensboro NC LP Release Party at Flat Iron with Shehehe
May 16 - Richmond VA at Banditos with Night!Night! And Talk Me Off
May 17 - Washington DC at Rhizome with Night!Night! And Palladists
May 18 - Baltimore MD at Holy Frijoles with Night!Night! And Meth Rats
May 26 - Chapel Hill NC at Local 506 for JAWS Fest
'Pistol Whip' Lyrics:
can’t save anyone from the world
There is nowhere else to take them
We don’t drive
We just ride
Absent sense of dramatic timing
You are not an exorcist
Just an observationist
So use your fist
Pistol whipped
Thump your chest till the fragments shake you down
Take you down
Snuff your history out
Burn your family down
You do not deserve this
You do not deserve this world
You are not an exorcist
Cryptic pre-contortionist
So do your best
Pistol whipped
Bend yourself till your ego hits the ground
You do not deserve this
You do not deserve this world
About:
After a series of livewire basement shows and sweaty van tours in several bands over the years, Scott Hicks and Andy Foster formed Totally Slow in 2013, releasing a self-titled LP of driving, catchy punk shortly after. Razorcake Magazine called the ten-song debut “well planned and masterful,” saying that the debut “...goes off without a hitch. It’s perfect.”
After 2016 LP Bleed Out’s “powerful, pedal-to-the-metal pop” (the kind folks at Razorcake again), Totally Slow went into flux, speeding up their songs for the Imperium EP and introducing guitarist Chuck Johnson (Torchrunner, Gut Feeling), then recalibrating their lineup. Now on Refresh Records, their third LP 'Casual Drag' featured a more collaborative approach to songwriting.
Totally Slow offers up razor sharp, no-frills melodic hardcore, with angry lyrics that show how the personal is inseparable from the political when the country is on the brink of chaos. The band has combined the melodic anthems of 1980s SoCal bands like The Adolescents, Agent Orange and The Faction, with the skewed rawk of ‘90s San Diego bands Drive Like Jehu and Truman’s Water, and the righteous conviction of classic DC hardcore like Dag Nasty, Gray Matter and Fugazi.
Totally Slow has shared stages with the likes of Man or Astro-man?, Agent Orange and many others.
Band: https://linktr.ee/totallyslow
Label: http://refreshrecs.com
What others have written about Totally Slow:
"Packs a lot of hardcore fury into a short amount of time, bringing back the classic hardcore style that’s reminiscent of early Bad Religion...could easily have come from the glory days of ’80s hardcore."- New Noise Magazine
"Middle ground between Adolescents' snotty SoCal punk and the harder sounds of DC post-hardcore, and it manages to induce nostalgia and feel free and urgent all at once." - BrooklynVegan
"...a blazing punk rock spirit, brimming with radical energy...summarizes the band's unabashed attitude, delivering a powerful statement which involves the essence of their fierce punk ethos." - Destroy / Exist
"Full of frantic energy all rolled into a tightly-tuned punk anthem."- Eat This Music
"...indie punk rock with a great hook and a foot in the past it’s got a tonne of energy...a really good earworm that just gets better the more you hear it."- RPM online
"Totally Slow is known for righteous hooks as well as killer riffs. On their new single “The Lost Art Of Shutting Up” they prove their strengths and then some...solid punk rock."- Closed Captioned
"Is it a beast of an album? A complete rager? The answer to all of those questions is yes."- Punk Rock Theory
"Formed in 2013, the quartet's melodic and fast-tempoed jams bring to mind classic material from the likes of Agent Orange, Pennywise, and Adolescents, albeit with a dash of Drive Like Jehu-like noise-rock sprinkled on top."- No Echo
"...melds the precision of D.C. post-punk, the muscular riffs of Chicago bands like Naked Raygun and the Effigies, and metal-tinged hardcore. If I were still young enough to mix it up in a mosh pit without breaking a hip, this is the band I’d want on stage – fast, angry, powerful, forceful, and inspiring.- Off Shelf
"Taking the volume and melody from Dinosaur Jr. and adding the fractured chaos of Sonic Youth, the band waivers on that blade between punk and alt-rock" - Punk News
Wild, Raucous, and Unabashedly Punk...a truly rambunctious ride."- Play Too Much
"These ten songs are so well planned and masterful that you might miss their genius. This debut goes off without a hitch. It’s perfect. "- Razorcake
"The spectrums and voids may be too much for some folks. It takes a hell of an artist to get better as they burn, but Totally Slow show us it happens."- Post Trash
"Totally Slow revel in a messy, over blown dynamic. Taking the volume and melody from Dinosaur Jr. and adding the fractured chaos of Sonic Youth, the band waivers on that blade between punk and alt-rock. If the later day SST stuff was actually good, it would probably sound like this."- Punk News
"Ever wake up in the morning, check the news, then flip over and scream into your pillow? What if you screamed into a microphone instead? Try it and you might get Totally Slow’s new EP. "- Razorcake