Dirty Shrines
photo by Kristie Dehn

Stream Dirty Shrines' (Elway, Chumped) debut LP 'Digital Ego'

A few years back, Elway members Brian Van Proyen and Tim Browne and Chumped‘s Drew Johnson began playing together in the band Your Loss, and now the three of them are playing together in a different band, Dirty Shrines, which is rounded out by drummer Max Barcelow. Their debut LP Digital Ego comes out this Friday (9/17) via Black Numbers (pre-order), and we’re premiering the full stream ahead of the release. The band says:

It’s hard to formulate just how much fun this album was to make. We started recording before the pandemic, and in the middle of tracking guitars the whole world decided to take a massive shit on everything and completely shut down. After months of not being able to go into the studio, or see anybody for that matter, we were finally able to get back to it and particularly value the shared act of creating with people that you love. What started off as a few demos shared between members 5 years ago, became a project that granted us artistic agency and refuge in a time where grievous constraints inhibited livelihoods. We don’t take for granted the privilege in getting to make this album, and hope you enjoy the sound of four dudes banging on shit amidst the end times.

Compared to Your Loss, which had more of a straightup punk vibe, Digital Ego finds Dirty Shrines taking on ’70s heartland rock and power pop through a modern punk lens. You can hear a love of everything from Thin Lizzy to Tom Petty to The Beatles, and Dirty Shrines really nail the sweet melodic and harmonic work needed to pull off that kinda stuff, but even the album’s prettiest songs still retain that punk aggression. Hear it for yourself below.