Institute Debuts “Powerstation,” Their New Album’s Killer First Single
They’re one of America’s best active punk bands.
The guys in Institute have been churning out reliably great midtempo punk jams since their still-kinda-classic demo surfaced in 2013. They've got a new full-length coming soon: it's called Subordination, drops June 2 on Sacred Bones, and was recorded with help from N.Y.C. rock world stalwart Ben Greenberg (from Uniform and The Men). Unsurprisingly, its first single "Powerstation" rips. It's got burnout licks, an almost-tangible crunch, and frontman Moses Brown's gravelly yelps, which never seem to sound explicitly mad nor sad — just, like, full of soul.
According to their artist bio, Subordination "investigates national insecurities and American socialization failures through the lens of [Brown's] personal experiences," and "Powerstaion," debuting below, is a solid representation of those anxious political themes. "It's about how the root of all power and control boils down to insecurities that are so trite and sexual in nature," Brown said of the track in an email to The FADER. "Police, government, and masculinity all are power constructs meant to put people down so the people running the show can get laid." Sounds dark, but feels true; listen below.
Album art:
Subordination comes out June 2 on Sacred Bones.
Tracklist:
1. Exhibitionism
2. Only Child
3. Prissy Things
4. All This Pride
5. Oil Money
6. Human Law
7. Too Dumb
8. Good Ol' Boys
9. Powerstation