Drug Church frontman Patrick Kindlon has expressed that the group is “aiming for a hat trick”. After the success of their 2018 breakout record Cheer and last year’s strong follow-up Hygiene, he is determined to make the next Drug Church LP a collection of wall-to-wall bangers. After around two decades of making music in the criminally overlooked punk collective Self Defense Family (formerly End of a Year), the past two Drug Church full-lengths have been the height of commercial success in his musical career. That being said, his priority with the album “hat-trick” isn’t about that, it’s all about the music. In a recent interview on the Behind the Vinyl podcast, Kindlon said the goal for the next Drug Church record is to ensure that, “each record is of at least the same quality as the one before it … we’re shooting for no drop-off”.

Today we got our first taste of new Drug Church music since the release of Hygiene, and this single proves that the band is well on their way to meeting that goal. “Myopic” gives fans of this band everything they’re looking for: high energy, big riffs, fun mosh pit material, cutting insight. Jon Markson has applied an increasingly slick production style to Drug Church material over the past few releases, and he continues to make them sound great on this single. Hell, is that a little synth swell during the second verse? But there’s a far more noticeable difference, and sign of growth, on “Myopic”. The surly outlook that Kindlon typically presents in Drug Church lyrics takes a mature (frankly, wholesome) turn here. While still acknowledging that the game of life is rigged, that some of us are just letdowns and we’re never going to be great, this song shows a moment of hope and self-acceptance. The man in the second verse of this song is not the same person we left off with on “Athlete on Bench”.

I like Drug Church because they write really fun songs with hardcore energy and alt rock appeal. I like Patrick Kindlon because his lyrics speak to the sides of me that are hard to deal with sometimes. The bitter, pissed off cynic. The kid who is “living between shrinking margins”. I find catharsis in songs that speak to the ugly parts of me. But sometimes, you need to put it all down for a while. Sometimes you need to “bring it all into focus … forgive all of life’s hassles, from flat tires to thieving bosses / overdrafts to cheating exes”. Sometimes, you need to put your glasses on.