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ANGEL DU$T
Justice Tripp lives in the future. For nearly two decades, the musician has consistently been ahead of the curve: first with Trapped Under Ice, where he led the way for a new wave of heavy hardcore, and then as the mastermind behind Angel Du$t, where he blazed the trail for the current generation of aggressive musicians to branch out into unabashedly melodic territory. Tripp’s work is marked by an ever-evolving creativity that’s made him highly influential, but which has often put him a number of steps ahead of the very trends that he’s helped to inspire. Now Angel Du$t are back with their new album, Brand New Soul: a fearless and open-hearted tribute to all things rock, offering listeners a chance to be right there with them on the cutting edge. Tripp might forever be keeping an eye on the future, but Angel Du$t’s time is now.
Since forming in 2013, Angel Du$t has always been something of a musical catalyst. “For better or worse, it seems like it’s hard for me to do something that’s cool at that moment,” Tripp laughs. “Even with Trapped Under Ice, we weren’t that big of a band when we were active, and then with Angel Du$t it was pretty divisive.” Trapped Under Ice had ushered in a renaissance of metallic hardcore, but as they were winding down, Tripp found himself pulled in a very different direction. “I’d been touring in heavy hardcore bands since I was 13, but my favorite band is Bad Brains and that band had all these major key sounding songs–I just wanted to play something new,” he explains. Angel Du$t’s 2013 demo Xtra Raw and 2014 debut album A.D. were lightning-quick blasts of punk, combining d-beat gallop and hardcore thump with a giant dose of catchiness. A decade on, these records and their follow-up, 2016’s Rock The Fuck On Forever, have proven to not only be modern classics, but also crucial templates for the current boom in hardcore’s visibility and popularity. At the time, however, these were daring sounds for a musician primarily known for his ability to capture rage in a song. “I lost friends over it,” Tripp recalls of Angel Du$t’s early years. “People were so offended and upset by me making this music. Angel Du$t isn’t about self-hatred, it’s about love. And at the time that didn’t feel like what people wanted from me–they wanted me to be the evil guy.”
Far from deterred, this desire to upend expectations became a central tenet of Tripp’s work. 2019’s Pretty Buff and 2021’s YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs found Angel Du$t veering even further into full-on guitar pop, highlighting Tripp’s seemingly infinite well of hooks as well as his knack for imaginative production and lush arrangements. “People can be afraid to grow, afraid to change,” he says. “But I want to be an artist, I want to change and I want to evolve. I love punk and hardcore, and that’s always going to have a place in my heart, but I want to challenge things.” Enter: Brand New Soul, a record that manages to bridge Angel Du$t’s past, present, and future into a 13 song, 29-minute, one-of-a-kind rock and roll joyride.
Recorded by Paul Mercer, mixed by Rob Schnapf and Steve Wright, and produced by Tripp himself, Brand New Soul feels like the most potent encapsulation of Tripp’s vision to date. “This was the first time I’ve ever produced our music myself,” he says. “I think what’s important about that is the freedom to try anything you have in mind. Rock and roll is such a broad spectrum of music, but I think sometimes people will get really hyper-focused on certain tiny moments or niches and that’s blasphemy to me. There are all these tools that come from rock and roll that we can use. I wanted to try and represent a lot of different angles. It feels like we’re just totally off the leash.”
Tripp’s rock and roll circus is brought to life by an impressive cast of characters. Angel Du$t’s membership has always been made up of incredibly talented musicians, and Brand New Soul solidifies the key players with the live lineup of Daniel Star (guitar), Steve Marino (guitar), Zechariah Ghostribe (bass), and Thomas Cantwell (drums/percussion), as well as contributions from longtime collaborators like Daniel Fang (drums/percussion) and Pat McCrory (guitar), and vocal appearances from Mary Jane Dunphe and Citizen’s Mat Kerekes. “The band has always centered around me, but I’ve never written the music just for me,” explains Tripp. “It always felt like it was meant to be played by a band, I love the team effort. Angel Du$t isn’t about me–it’s about the spirit of rock music and the energy that that gives off. It’s like we’re committed to a cause.” The record feels like the sum of its eclectic parts, all united by Tripp’s daring and unshakeable creativity in the producer’s chair. “I wanted to just be able to try anything with no fear,” he says. “I can’t operate with fear. This record is about zero compromise, it’s about giving yourself over completely to what you’re doing. It’s not about ego, it’s about submitting yourself to this feeling–it’s rock and roll music, period. That’s it.”
The opening title track lays out this mission statement with a collision of punk speed and R&B swagger, all careening into a quasi-breakdown that somehow combines hardcore stomp with a hip-shaking bass line that can’t be ignored. “Brand New Soul” is immediately followed by “Love Slam,” which serves as a pulse-pounding reminder that no matter what sound or style Tripp is playing, hardcore will be part of the DNA. “Hardcore music is who I am, and hardcore is rock and roll,” he says, adding with a laugh, “And rock and roll music makes me want to jump on people.”
There’s no doubt that tracks like the furious “Space Jam” or “Sippin Lysol” will inspire those unhinged good times at Angel Du$t shows, and it’s a testament to the success of Tripp’s try-anything approach that those songs flow seamlessly on Brand New Soul alongside songs like the lushly arranged “I’m Not Ready” or the Paul Simon-influenced “Don’t Stop.” Parts of the record directly nod to Tripp’s love of different corners of guitar music (“Fuel For The Fire,” with its hard rock riffs and old school mix panning, or the album’s twisted cover of The Conehead’s “Waste of Space”), while elsewhere he continues to push the boundaries of what a rock song can be (“Born 2 Run,” which morphs from longing guitar pop into a pulsing electronic landscape, or “Racecar,” which throws mellotron, acoustic guitar, screaming, and endless layers of percussion into a blender with reckless abandon).
Throughout Brand New Soul, Tripp steps out on the line lyrically as well, opening himself up more than ever and imbuing every musical left turn with real pathos. On “Born 2 Run,” Tripp laments the challenges of being vulnerable with new people in your life, and “Racecar” expresses frustration at those who are quick to judge–even within supposedly open-minded spaces like underground music scenes. “In The Tape Deck,” “Don’t Stop,” and “I’m Not Ready,” meanwhile, are surprisingly bare love songs that explore the deeply human need to find people in your life with whom you can truly be yourself. “Me and my friends don’t live average lifestyles,” Tripp says. “Not everyone can understand that, but you find people who are willing to live with you in an unconventional way, who will be a weirdo with you.”
It’s this combination of heart and inventiveness that makes Brand New Soul such an endearing listen, and the record almost feels like a proof-of-concept for the daring spirit that’s led Tripp his entire life. His story is far from fully written, but ten years into Angel Du$t, it’s finally starting to seem clear that the songwriter’s many creative risks have paid off. The band’s influence is palpable, and Brand New Soul is poised with open arms to bring even more people into the unique world Tripp has created–one where stage dives and sweetness fit perfectly together, and everyone is welcome to get in on the fun. “The music bringing people together is the most important thing,” he says. “I would hope that the biggest impact we’ve had is just encouraging people to express themselves.”
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