Somerset Thrower releasing 'Godspeed,' playing shows (stream a track)

Long Island’s Somerset Thrower are returning this year with a new album, Godspeed, on August 24 via Dead Broke Rekerds (pre-orders will be available here). They’ve got a sound that’s got one foot in Jawbreaker/Sunny Day Real Estate-style emo and another in Gin Blossoms-y alt-rock, and though they aren’t the first modern-day band to bring those two sides of the ’90s together, they do it in a way that feels fresh and vital. Their songs really rip, and they really reach that cathartic climax that music like this is supposed to reach, as you can hear for yourself on lead single “Wake Up, Motherfucker! It’s Casual Friday!” That song premieres below.

Somerset Thrower have two upcoming hometown-area shows — Brooklyn’s Union Pool on 8/4 with Peels and Quicksilver Daydream, and Long Island’s Amityville Music Hall on 8/25 with Adult Magic, Notches, Me In Capris, and Rule Them All (tickets) — and later this year, they’re planning to tour with Iron Chic on the way down to The Fest in Gainesville. The dates with Iron Chic are still TBA.