"I don't fit in anywhere!" That's what Drew Waldon screams on the chorus "New From The Pain," and it's pretty much true. Waldon leads Gumm, a Chattanooga band that's spent the past few years carrying the fire for a sincere, vaguely melodic form of hardcore that I generally associate with late-'80s Washington, DC. In the hardcore world, that style isn't exactly in vogue these days, but Gumm attack it with vital, visceral energy, sounding more like themselves than anyone else. They've got a new album on the way, and that's great news.
Gumm released their full-length debut Slogan Machine in 2023, and they'll drop their follow-up Beneath The Wheel on Halloween. The band recorded the album with Dying Wish/Chamber collaborator Tate Mercer, but lead single "New From The Pain" isn't anywhere near as heavy as that resume would imply. Instead, it's a searching but immediate anthem about trying and failing to turn self-doubt into something positive.
In a press release, Drew Waldon says, "I think a lot of the lyrics on the record deal with isolation and alienation, with a focus on self-work and self-preservation. Not fitting in, not being truly connected... those feelings lead me to isolate and bury parts of myself. Only recently have I tried to actually face these things and build something new out of them. I don’t want to be defined by feelings of isolation, I want to use the pain to make myself stronger and more open and vulnerable." Below, check out the "New From The Pain" video, the Beneath The Wheel tracklist, and Gumm's upcoming tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Beneath The Wheel"
02 "New From The Pain"
03 "Flavorless"
04 "Your Last Joke"
05 "One Thing At A Time"
06 "Learn Nothing"
07 "Human Web"
08 "Virtue Delusion"
09 "Need"
10 "All Gone"
TOUR DATES:
10/05 - Birmingham, AL @ Furnace Fest
11/14 - Houston, TX @ White Swan *
11/15 - San Antonio, TX @ O’Death*
11/16 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk*
11/17 - Fort Worth, TX @ Haltom Theatre
11/18 - Tulsa, OK @ Mass Movement +
11/19 - Wichita, KS @ The Furnace+
11/20 - Kansas City, MO @ Howdy+
11/21 - Springfield, IL @ Dumb Records+
11/22 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen+
11/23 - Evansville, IN @ Damsel Brew Pub +
* with Strange Joy
+ with Basic Needs
Beneath The Wheel is out 10/31 on Convulse.
