Stream the Brooklyn punk band’s rad new album + read a track-by-track breakdown from the group’s serially shirtless frontman
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Last week Paramount tried to steal our friends’ thunder when it announced the reboot of Face/Off —news I saw just seconds after I posted about the Brooklyn band and was busy patting myself on the back for the caption“Nick Cage will melt your face/off!”…
Which was honestly pretty fucking weird. But not really the point.
Because in FAR MORE IMPORTANT NICK CAGE NEWS (google results be damned!), I’m extremely stoked to share that the band-not-actor’s rad new record Lost Cause is out everywhere TOMORROW—and I’m even more pumped to be premiering it a day early here on Bands do BK!
In Nic Cage nomenclature, you could say Lost Cause has the SPEED of Gone in 60 Seconds! The BADASSERY of Con Air! And the ROMANCE and INTRIGUE of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (maybe? Idk, I’m really scraping the bottom of the IMDB barrel here).
Mostly, it’s just a really sick record. 10 rowdy songs (including three “hi rez” versions of tracks from the band’s 2019 More Crime EP) that beg for the throwing of beers and bodies—and, underneath the sonic ass kicking, offer some serious social commentary through topics ranging from addiction to anime, self-love to side hustles, crime to conspiracy theories… and one very important cat.
In review terms, let’s just say I’d give the album more ~FLAME EMOJIS~ than, like, Ghost Rider’s head. And for more important commentary that, you know, actually means something, I’ll hand it over to Nolan (vox) of Nick Cage, who ahead of the release sent me an excellent track-by-track breakdown of the record and shared the inspiration and stories behind the songs.
LOST CAUSE—TRACK BY TRACK:
“Lost Cause”
“The parole system is fucked up. A family member of mine was going through the system, and they want you to live in group housing, appear for court or for the PO whenever they want you to, all the while holding down a full-time job. It’s a money racket. They don’t want you to win.”
“Simulated World”
“I’m fascinated with conspiracy theories, but only the fun ones like simulated world theory. If you don’t know it, simulated world theory hypothesizes that reality is actually a program and that we are being controlled by a user and we’re all zeroes and ones. I don’t believe it, btw. I think the theory is undone by the existence of The Sims. Who would want to play a game where you play a game controlling people doing mundane tasks?”
“I’m ok”
“It’s the short one. I’m fine, really.”
“More Crime”
“I’d take 20% more crime for 50% less rent. Wouldn’t you? This is one of the first songs we ever did. It’s a high rez version of the version we had on the More Crime EP.”
“Splash”
“Splash is the unofficial theme of the band. Getting splashed means having a great time with your friends on the substance of your choice. Historically, I would say we’re a curved edge band.”
“Left on Read”
“Speaking of DC hardcore history, I wrote this one based on mishearing a Minor Threat song. I won’t tell you which one.”
“Heroin”
“In my mind nothing is scarier than heroin. I don’t blame anybody for getting addicted to it, I really blame the drug industries for getting people hooked on painkillers and having to turn to heroin when their scripts run out. And I blame dealers that cut their stuff with fentanyl and kill users. It’s rough out there for people that are hurting. Another hi rez of the version on More Crime EP.”
“Commuter”
“I do real estate as a side hustle (HMU if you need an apartment btw), which is a frustrating thing to do. Sometimes you have to deal with picky people, bad information, and poorly made keys. This is about that, but it’s also just about struggling to make a buck.”
“Can’t Judge the Judge”
“I wrote this one in a really happy place, which is difficult when you’re writing punk songs. If you don’t got anything to push against, what can you write about? I took the opposite approach—what do I like? I like my cat, Judge. Also a hi rez of the version on More Crime. Dig that mellotron man.”
“Anime Dorks Theme Song”
So the original name of the band was Anime Dorks, because we wanted to have a name that you’d have to fight through to enjoy. Who would wear an Anime Dorks t-shirt? We like to joke that we’re going to change the band name back to Anime Dorks. I remember that I wrote this song when I was in a hotel in DC with a balcony overlooking a traffic circle, working on a super cool job, and just vibing out on life in general and f e e l i n g myself. We all got problems and life sucks, but y’know what? You got to love yourself before anything will get better.”
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You can stream (+ BUY!) Lost Cause everywhere tomorrow, and while I’m anxiously awaiting the days where I can get annihilated in every imaginable way while experiencing the ten tracks live, in the meantime, I’m really looking forward to listening to the record in my airpods while walking *very aggressively* down the street.
And probably while watching all the National Treasure movies… like one, two or maybe 12 times.
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Follow the band at @nickcageraw, buy their music on Bandcamp and add them to your Spotify playlists now!
Feature image provided by the band.