News
Smut — the Chicago band comprised of vocalist/lyricist Tay Roebuck, guitarist Andie Min, bassist John Steiner, guitarist Sam Ruschman, and drummer Aidan O’Connor — releases the new single/video, “Touch & Go,” from their new album, Tomorrow Comes Crashing, out June 27th via Bayonet Records. Following “Syd Sweeney,” hailed by Stereogum as an “explosive punk epic,” “Touch & Go” features grungy guitar lines accompanied by Roebuck’s honeyed vocals.
Roebuck says, “‘Touch & Go’ is a broken fantasy that was pretty directly inspired by ‘Time to Pretend’ by MGMT. The pursuit of success and the daydreams we have of ‘making it’ are pretty easily shattered once you put that fantasy in the modern world. The song ends with the realization that the best part of music will always be the community you build with it.” In the song’s last moments she sings, “The basement flooded / The coffee burned / The van is broken down / We all take turns / Touch and go.”
Tomorrow Comes Crashing marks Smut's first record with O'Connor and Steiner, and sees the band re-energized and trained on the limitless potential that comes with making music with people you love. Galvanized with a new lineup, Smut focused on capturing the big emotions that come with falling in love with music for the very first time. The outcome is ten of their most intense, bombastic, and focused songs to date. To make the record, Smut recorded “as live as they could,” alongside Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma) in a studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, over the course of ten days. Right before they went off to New York, Roebuck and Min got married, with the rest of the band by their side. The recording was a true labor of love — driving from Chicago with all their equipment, returning from 12 hour studio days to sleep on friends' couches and floors, Roebuck completely blowing her voice by the end.
Smut has always been DIY. Because they love it. Because they have to do it — there’s no other option. Tomorrow Comes Crashing is the culmination of that DIY spirit: making a record that completely encompasses the intensity, moodiness, and emotion of their journey so far.