Belfast’s New Pagans play charged-up guitar rock with a dark edge but no shortage of pop appeal. Today they’ve announced their debut album, The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots And All, and shared its closing track. “Christian Boys” maintains its energy and momentum over the course of five minutes, showing off singer-guitarist Lyndsey McDougall’s professed devotion to Sonic Youth but with twinges of emo, post-hardcore, and radio-friendly alt-rock in the mix. “Christian boys are the worst I know,” goes the climactic lyric. “Christian girls should take it slow.”

The song is inspired by McDougall’s friend’s affair with a Christian leader before he married another woman. In a statement, the band elaborates:

This is shocking but what is more disturbing is that it hadn’t been the first-time similar stories had emerged. When these men were confronted, they all stated that the women were to blame, it had been their fault, they were the sinners and had led the Christian men astray.

This song calls out the people who blame others for their mistakes and don’t take responsibility for their own actions. Lyndsey knows that some of the lyrics in the song could be considered controversial, but she has grown up around Christian men and believes that this conversation needs to happen, it shouldn’t be off limits.

In addition to “Christian Girls” and the previously released “Yellow Room,” the new album contains all six songs from last year’s impressive Glacial Erratic EP. Check out all that material below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “It’s Darker”
02 “Bloody Soil”
03 “Charlie Has the Face Of A Saint”
04 “I Could Die”
05 “Lily Yeats”
06 “Admire”
07 “Harbour”
08 “Yellow Room”
09 “Ode To None”
10 “Natural Beauty”
11 “Christian Boys”

The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots And All is out 3/19 on Big Scary Monsters. Pre-order it here.