Hayes Noble is the type of young artist that assures us that rock and roll is still in good hands. Combining the driving riffs of J Mascis with any number of alt-rock subgenres his adopted home state of Washington helped shape during the ’90s grunge boom—not to mention, evidently, the album-per-year prolificity of Ty Segall—the songwriter still in his late teens is already following up his 2023 debut Head Cleaner with another collection of guitar-centric tunes. Evidently moving on from punkier and shoegazier territory, the first two singles from As It Was, As We Were lean into noise-pop influences—first with the sped-up grunge of “Nothing Else,” and now with the smoother shred-fest that is second single “Pushin’ On.”
Composed over an ominous repetitive riff that recalls Mannequin Pussy’s “Romantic,” the track shoots out of the gate with a tight composition recalling the early work of No Age. “‘Pushin’ On’ was the first song I wrote after the release of my first album, and it’s been a regular in live sets since last spring,” Noble shares before diving into the lyrical themes. “The song is about a failing relationship, but ultimately it’s upbeat. The tone sort of acknowledges that the relationship wasn’t perfect, but it’s the best we could do. It’s not a sad recount of a relationship breaking down. It’s really sort of a strange love song. It didn’t work, but it was worth trying.”
The song, on the other hand, works perfectly well. Check out the lyric video for it below.
