As folk-punk continues to have a quiet resurgence, Long Beach outfit Chase Petra resurfaced last week with a new single called “Centrifugal Force,” their first since 2022. And today they’re sharing a follow-up track alongside the news that their first album since 2019’s Liminal is on the horizon: Lullabies for Dogs is scheduled for release on March 7 via Wax Bodega, with “A Bug’s Life” serving as the second single from the collection. Focusing on how the span of time between these two albums shaped them from kids “throwing spaghetti at a wall to being these weird, anxiety-ridden adults,” as founding member Hunter Allen puts it, there’s plenty of angst to be found in this set of 13 songs.
Case in point, “A Bug’s Life” subverts its Pixar-invoking title by contemplating a voice in our heads that isn’t particularly socially acceptable to acknowledge. “[It’s] about not being the bigger person,” the band bluntly shares. “It is about the moments in which violence could be the answer. It’s about being just as small as the itty-bitty, minuscule fools that hurt you first. It’s about telling people that deserve to eat dirt to choke. We live in a society that venerates this idea of being polite and kind and quiet even whilst people with less empathy and self-awareness than a rock take aim and shoot whenever the urge overtakes them. High road? In your dreams.”
Allen’s strained vocals are met with brushed drums and a looming soundbed that recalls a vengeful jug band courtesy of bandmates Evan Schaid and Brooke Dickson (the latter coming off a five-year stint with the recently retired Regrettes). Hear the track for yourself below.
