Hailing from Santa Cruz hardcore punk outfit Scowl has spent the last few years cutting its teeth on a global live circuit, setting festivals ablaze and stealing the show as openers from the West Coast to Europe. After dropping their debut How Flowers Grow in 2021 they set out to win over audiences with their gloriously combustive concert energy — three years later they’ve proven themselves catalysts of an enthralling rock savagery.
Comprised of Kat Moss (vocals), Malachi Greene (guitar), Mikey Bifolco (guitar), Bailey Lupo (bass), and Cole Gilbert (drums), the forces that power Scowl do so with electrifyingly reckless abandon. Fueling their riotous sonics is a maelstrom of rabid percussion, incinerating riffs, and viciously growling howls. Those who were able to catch them live last year — and there were plenty of opportunities regardless of the continent you call home — then you know just how formidable they can be.
They tore it up in the desert on the Sonora Stage at Coachella and in Las Vegas at Sick New World. Abroad, Scowl brought their tumultuous spirit to Reading & Leeds and Download Fest, gave a shockwave of a set at Sonic Blast Fest in Portugal, and even headed down under for a scorching stint at Australia’s Back On The Map.
From the titanic stages of festivals to venues all over North America and Europe the five-piece has earned a reputation as relentless performers. In the spring and summer, they dominated the U.K. and Europe on a headlining tour, following it up with a massive run of U.S. dates in the fall. They jumpstarted the latter with a pair of incendiary SoCal shows at 1720 in Los Angeles and Chain Reaction in Anaheim.
Amid an endless cycle of tours, Scowl found time to unleash their third EP Psychic Dance Routine. The five-track collection coalesces their hyperkinetic and volatile sound around snarling anthems (“Shot Down,” “Wired”), hypnotically primal desire (“Psychic Dance Routine”), and heady disassociations charged with chaotic fury (“Opening Night”). True to their commitments toward harnessing the lightning of their live shows they also released an Audiotree Live version of the EP that manages to do just that.
Unsurprisingly, Scowl will spend the new year just as they did the previous one: enveloping audiences at festivals like Punk Rock Bowling, Sonic Temple, Welcome To Rockville, and Download Fest in their juggernaut sonics. A testament to their rise, they were also part of the lineup for the inaugural NO VALUES festival that will debut in Pasadena, CA this summer. They also revealed via a statement posted to Instagram that they’d be canceling their official appearance at SXSW this year in protest of the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of the festival and to avoid being complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.
At the moment they’re wrapping their tour with Madball across Europe but will soon be back stateside joining DRAIN on the first leg of their U.S. tour. You would be remiss to sleep any longer on this band — not that you could even if you tried — their music coming at you like a meteoric fireball aimed right at your snooze button.
Words: Steven Ward
Catch Scowl live at NO VALUES in Pomona on Saturday, June 8th.
Visit Scowl on their website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
