I’m not sure a new Piebald LP was particularly high on my wantlist. I was perfectly content with the band’s discography ending at Accidental Gentlemen in 2007. And yet, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Tales For The Rages this week.

The album contains all the ingredients that made Piebald such a beloved band in the first place: sincere, in-your-face lyrics, self-aware humor, power-chord-driven anthems, tangled guitar lines, communal singalongs, and that uniquely cathartic feeling that their best songs always seem to generate. At the same time, Tales For The Rages feels firmly rooted in the present.

As Travis Shettel’s track-by-track breakdown at Brooklyn Vegan reveals, the album is fueled by disappointment. Disappointment in governments, in a culture that worships wealth, and in our growing indifference to suffering. Yet for all its frustrations, the record remains hopeful, grounded in friendship, community, empathy, and the belief that music can still point toward something better.

The renewed life breathed into Piebald began with reunion shows in 2016 and evolved into a patient six-year writing process. As a result, Tales For The Rages never feels like a comeback album made out of obligation. It feels like a band rediscovering why they loved doing this in the first place, and doing so full of humanity.

“It’s always seemed to me that work is a waste of life
And yet we must work to stay alive
My retirement plan is dying in the class war”

(Used to Good Advantage)

And so I find myself on a full-blown Piebald kick again, learning the words to new songs. And if the band ever decides to return to Europe, I’ll be ready.

Tales For The Rages is out now on Iodine Recordings.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs