Chicago emo-pop crew Hospital Bracelet are releasing their short, sweet debut album South Loop Summer in January. It includes this year’s single “Sober Haha JK Unless” as well as today’s new offering “Happy Birthday,” which matches noodly Midwestern emo guitar riffs with nervy pop-punk energy before taking a turn into sludgy distortion. The track premiered at Brooklyn Vegan, where singer-guitarist Eric Christopher explains that Hospital Bracelet had been looking for someone to release this album for a while before Counter Intuitive came calling, and that “Happy Birthday” was the first thing written for it.

Hear “Happy Birthday” and “Sober Haha JK Unless” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “South Loop Summer”
02 “Sober Haha JK Unless”
03 “Happy Birthday”
04 “Feral Rat Anthem”
05 “Sheetz Vs. Wawa”
06 “Sour OG RPG”
07 “Summer Friends”

South Loop Summer is out 1/21 on Counter Intuitive. Pre-order it here.