Upcoming Releases

Los Angeles melodic punks Stoke Signals return October 31st with Making Enemies, a four-song EP that captures the band’s loudest, rawest, and most collaborative work to date. The release arrives via Hey! Fever Records and follows their 2024 debut LP Make Dying Fun, which we praised for delivering “all the energy and melody you can ask for, delivered with a healthy dose of grit.” Check out the video for the EP’s lead single “rockville winters build character”, an anthem for overlooked blue-collar underdogs. The track sets the tone for the record—harder, louder, and more melodic than anything the band has released before.

The band—Giuliano Messina (vocals/guitar), Chris Perez (guitar/vocals), Jordan Calhoun (bass), and Michael Nusbaum (drums)—leaned fully into their DIY roots, self-recording in their Culver City lockout space with amps dimed, drum mics aimed at a toilet for reverb, and gang vocals shouted behind bathroom doors. The chaos was later mastered by Paul Miner (Death By Stereo, Thrice), preserving the sweat-drenched live energy that’s quickly becoming their signature.

Since erupting onto the scene in 2024, Stoke Signals have played relentless shows across California, sharing stages with everyone from The Lawrence Arms to Dillinger Four. Highlights include a buzzworthy set at Camp Punksylvania 2025 and an August tour with labelmates Heartwells. Outlets from Scene Point Blank to IDIOTEQ have compared them to Strike Anywhere, The Get Up Kids, Audio Karate, and even Dude Ranch-era Blink-182—if Blink were a Fest band with something urgent to say.

In true DIY fashion (and because they clearly had too much time on their hands), Stoke Signals also coded their own browser arcade game: Stoke Signals Presents: Making Enemies – A Hey! Fever Records Fighting Game! Play as band members or labelmates, beat down your friends, and unlock a Bandcamp discount code for the EP. Play here.

Making Enemies tracklist:

1. Rockville Winters Build Character
2. Floodlights
3. The Beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with River Phoenix Still Gets Me So Hyped
4. Jersey's Right Over There