Adult Friends Release a Remorseful Anthem for the Burned Out
Adult Friends channel grunge and punk reminiscent of Dirty-era Sonic Youth on S Is For Stress. Wrapped in a pop-song structure and delivered with a cool, detached attitude, the track is deceptively accessible. Beneath that surface, however, lies the band’s most introspective, personal, and emotionally charged work to date.
Lyrically, S Is For Stress grapples with failure and the longing to undo the past. Instead, the subject is trapped by their own choices, unable to reconcile with themselves. This feeling speaks to real-world experiences of depression, including the casual, joking references to suicide that often mask a very real risk beneath the surface.
Recorded at Massey University, self-produced by the band alongside Dan Goodwin, and mixed and mastered by Scott Seabright, S Is For Stress is a refined track that makes liberal use of saturation while remaining punchy, contemporary, and vibrant. Its stripped-back arrangement and focus on simplicity sharpen the song’s emotional core, allowing the rawness of the lyrics and the urgency of the performance to cut through. It stands as a standout moment for Adult Friends and signals a bold new direction following their debut, Find Me In The Inferno.
Adult Friends NZ Tour
w/ Charmort and Spiral
19 March @ Valhalla, Wellington
20 March @ Rosemary’s, Taupo
w/ Say Or Do
21 March @ Ding Dong Lounge, Auckland
w/ Lacquered Black
Photo Credit: D’Artagnan Gould
