When Russian Girlfriends went on hiatus in 2022, it felt like a story left unfinished. After the departure of original frontman and co-songwriter Adam Hooks, the band did their best to keep the fire alive, but the weight of the pandemic and the challenges of carrying on eventually brought things to a close.
Then, in early 2025, a phone call changed everything. What began as a handful of regional reunion shows quickly reignited the creative spark that had always made Russian Girlfriends special. Within months, new songs were pouring out.
Recorded in April 2026 at Flying Blanket Studios in Mesa, Arizona, Never Better is the result: six explosive tracks that find Russian Girlfriends at their most focused, ferocious, and emotionally intelligent. Produced by Bob Hoag, the EP combines the band’s trademark intensity, aggression, and razor-sharp punk songwriting with a newfound sense of maturity and perspective. There’s plenty of noise, speed, and fury, but beneath it all is something deeper. “Open Armed And Dangerous” confronts division with empathy. “Violent Mind” wrestles with intrusive thoughts and inner turmoil. “Mosaic” embraces radical self-acceptance. These songs aren’t interested in nihilism or destruction for their own sake- they’re about finding a way forward.
Never Better sounds like a band rediscovering its identity and realizing it has somehow grown stronger in the process.
