Drain talk new LP ‘Living Proof,’ Grateful Dead homages, current hardcore boom, and more
Sammy Ciaramitaro, vocalist of Santa Cruz hardcore band Drain (and drummer of the now-defunct Gulch), joins us on the BrooklynVegan podcast in anticipation of Drain's sophomore album and first for Epitaph, Living Proof. It's a great album that expands upon the hardcore punk energy, thrash/groove metal riffs, and California warmth of their 2020 debut LP on Revelation Records, California Cursed, widening the band's sonic palette to include things like a rap interlude and a clean-vocal Descendents cover, and some of Sammy's most impactful lyricism yet.
On the podcast, we dig into the new album and talk about Drain's upcoming tour with Drug Church, Gel, MSPAINT, Magnitude, Restraining Order, Combust, Gumm, Torena, and Outta Pocket (varying by date). We also discuss the hardcore scene pre-pandemic vs post-pandemic, being a hardcore band in the post-Turnstile era, gatekeeping, some of Sammy's formative experiences in hardcore, his time in Gulch, his love of the Grateful Dead and Drain's multiple homages to that band, and much more. And at the end, Sammy names five current hardcore bands he thinks any new hardcore fan should know. Stream the episode on Spotify, Apple, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Living Proof comes out Friday, May 5 via Epitaph and you can stream all the currently-released tracks below. Their tour hits Brooklyn Monarch on June 8 with Drug Church, Magnitude, Gel, and Combust. All dates are listed below.
Drain -- 2023 Tour Dates
With MSPAINT, Outta Pocket & Torena:
05/25 Tacoma, WA – Alma
05/26 Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw
05/27 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
05/28 Boise, ID – The Shredder
With Drug Church:
05/30 Denver, CO – The Marquis Theater (feat. MSPAINT & Torena)
05/31 Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck (feat. MSPAINT )
With Drug Church & GEL:
06/01 St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill
06/02 Chicago, IL – Metro
06/04 Detroit, MI – Tied Down Fest
With Drug Church, Magnitude, GEL & Combust:
06/05 Toronto, ON – The Opera House
06/06 Montreal, QC – Club Soda
06/07 Boston, MA – Middle East
06/08 NYC, NY – Brooklyn Monarch
06/09 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church (no Drug Church)
06/10 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
With Drug Church, Magnitude, GEL & Restraining Order:
06/12 Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
06/13 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
06/14 Tampa, FL – Brass Mug
06/16 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
06/17 Dallas, TX – The Factory
06/18 Austin, TX – Oblivion Access Festival
With Drug Church, Magnitude & Gumm:
06/20 Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
06/21 Phoenix, AZ – The Nile Underground
06/22 Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
06/23 Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco Theater
06/24 Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Club
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