Back in the ’90s, the Berkeley punk band Samiam figured out a beefy, melodic sound that was heartfelt and vulnerable but still muscular. Their whole style influenced entire generations of pop-punk, emo, and melodic hardcore bands; it’s hard to picture someone like Saves The Day or Hot Water Music really working without Samiam’s precedent. Samiam have never broken up, but they’ve sometimes gone inactive. Today, they’ve announced their first album since 2011’s Trips.
Samiam’s new album Stowaway is coming out next month. The band has been working on the LP off and on for nearly a decade, and sessions reached various stages of progress before the album finally came together. The album will feature “Lights Out, Little Hustler,” the one-off single that Samiam released two years ago, and it’ll also feature the new song “Crystallized.”
“Crystallized” is not an xx cover. Instead, it’s a grand, heartfelt anthem about watching Spongebob Squarepants and living with regret. Director Austin Rhodes’ video is mostly soft-focus footage of the bandmembers at work. Below, listen to “Crystallized” and check out the Stowaway tracklist and the band’s upcoming tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Lake Speed”
02 “Crystallized”
03 “Lights Out, Little Hustler”
04 “Shoulda Stayed”
05 “Shut Down”
06 “Scout Knife”
07 “Monterey Canyon”
08 “Natural Disasters”
09 “Stanley”
10 “Highwire”
11 “Something”
12 “Stowaway”
TOUR DATES:
4/07 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
4/08 Oakland, CA @ The Golden Bull
4/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
5/11 Chicago, IL @ Metro #
5/12 St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall #
5/13 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade #
5/15 Orlando, FL @ The Social #
5/16 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room #
5/17 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum #
5/19 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
5/20 Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room #
5/21 Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live #
# with the Bouncing Souls
Stowaway is out 3/31 on Pure Noise.
