Pop-punk can address greater concerns than getting pizza and high school friendships. Brooklyn’s Aye Nako are using the snotty, sneering form to address their very existence on their new album Silver Haze. In snarling voices over knotty, propulsive guitars, the band grapple with existence LGBTQ people and people of color.
Their new album — out April 7 on Don Giovanni Records — is a release valve for the parts of themselves that they feel the need to hide in a society that looks at them sideways. And their queer, POC stories escape with all the speed and urgency that that implies, shooting out over the noise like a jet of steam.
“This one is about my frustrations with my gender, street harassment and a general feeling of danger when I leave my house,” Mars Ganito explained of the standout “Sissy” for Gold Flake Paint. “There are inconsolable parts of me that I bury because this planet is not ready for femme/effeminate queer and trans people. Hell, this place can’t even respect straight cis women. I wish I could feel ok wearing lipstick, crop tops and things like that whenever I want, but I’m literally terrified someone will kill me.”
Check out the whole album via the YouTube playlist up top and pre-order the album here.
