Ultra Q Take Us Into the Depths of a Gothic Nightclub on “It’s Permanent”

It’s the third single from their forthcoming EP “Get Yourself a Friend,” out November 19.
Ultra Q Take Us Into the Depths of a Gothic Nightclub on “It’s Permanent”

It’s the third single from their forthcoming EP “Get Yourself a Friend,” out November 19.

Words: Margaret Farrell

photo by Alice Baxley

October 20, 2021

Since their 2020 album In a Cave in a Video Game, Oakland-based group Ultra Q have released two singles this year. The group—fronted by Billie Joe Armstrong’s son Jakob, along with Enzo and Chris Malaspina and Kevin Judd—has delivered a few potent examples of 2000s rock revivalism with the scratchy Strokes-reminiscent “Bowman” and Bloc Party–indebted “Handheld.” Now, they’ve returned with their third single called “It’s Permanent,” which feels like a gothic collision of Joy Division and Franz Ferdinand. It’s the latest song from their upcoming EP Get Yourself a Friend, which is out November 19.

“The goal with ‘It’s Permanent’ was to really try and create something cinematic, which we had never attempted in a song before,” shared Armstrong. “It was all about the atmosphere. A lot of the vocal clicks and guitar flourishes were kept from the demo as they just worked well with what we had. Lyrically there’s something in there about getting wasted in an Eastern European night club, surrounded by flashing neon lights and doom, but it’s lathered in a healthy layer of nonsense. If nothing else, I hope this song provides a couple minutes of gothic escapism.”

The single comes with a dark, glitchy video, which you can watch below.