This week, Philadelphia’s Kinda Alright released a new single, “sanguinary acceleration (esoteric art no. – 1519.” The track is explosive and punchy, featuring chunky riffs and infectiously aggressive vocals. Kinda Alright’s specialty is blending catchy emo with prog and metal influences, and the new track highlights those skills. Its lyrics draw on mythology and occultism (as any good prog rock should), but then weaves them into a bouncy pop-punk structure complete with gang vocal call-backs and mosh-ready breakdowns.
Not too long ago, the band also dropped “chromatic aberration (esoteric art no. – 1113)”, an equally energetic track. Both songs will feature on Kinda Alright’s upcoming album, the esoteric arts, which is due to release June 16th, 2023.
Last year, the band released the rambunctious album rewilding. It opens with one of my favorite songs of 2022, “i did a lot of bad things in a past life so I was s.l.i.m.e.d” – a track filled with what the band refers to as “ignorant noodles ad nauseam” and cheeky lyrics like, “weird body, weirder state of mind / not much I can do / I’m small and kind of cute / and I’ll fuck you up!”
While rewilding had plenty of references to mysticism and the occult (see: the band bio for the album where they describe themselves as “four neckromancers who hide shaded from the world at large”), it’s looking like the esoteric arts will lean into the theme even more. Technically, right now you can listen to two other songs from the upcoming album in a live recording from a Summer 2022 show at The Ukie Club. You can listen to the live album here, or watch the set on YouTube.
The band will also be putting on a release show for their upcoming album at PhilaMOCA on June 17th @ 7:30PM. Black Dirty, Cuni, and Drift will be supporting the show.
You can listen to “sanguinary acceleration (esoteric art no. – 1519″ below.
Follow Kinda Alright on Instagram and Facebook. Pre-order the esoteric arts over on Bandcamp, and stream their latest singles “sanguinary acceleration” and “chromatic aberration” wherever you listen to music.