{"id":100739,"date":"2025-11-06T13:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=100739"},"modified":"2025-11-06T15:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:03:16","slug":"review-drain-is-your-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-drain-is-your-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: DRAIN – \u2026Is Your Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since emerging out of Santa Cruz a little over a decade ago,\u00a0DRAIN<\/strong> have stuck to their DIY roots, fine-tuning a brand of fun, thrashy hardcore along the way. As a live act, they’ve become a force in hardcore. Whether that’s sharing stages with the likes of Terror, or bothering arenas supporting blink-182, the trio have left their mark. As they release their third album,\u00a0‘\u2026Is Your Friend,’ <\/em>they aim to take that same feverish live energy, put it on record and take it up a notch.<\/p>\n

On the surface, it’s certainly achieved. Over the course of 10 tracks, frontman Sammy Ciaramitaro, guitarist Cody Chavez, and drummer Tim Flegal serve up a barrage of mosh-made jams. However, beyond Ciaramitaro’s ripping screams, Chavez’s gnarly riffs, and Flegal’s controlled chaos, there is substance to what\u00a0DRAIN<\/strong> offers. The penultimate track,\u00a0‘Darkest Days’<\/em>, charges with a metallic chug as Ciaramitaro reflects on losing a friend at just 10 years old. There are anxiety-induced instances littered throughout ‘\u2026Is Your Friend.’<\/em> Not only does it add a vulnerability to Ciaramitaro’s words, but it also adds to the album’s overall rawness. For example, ‘Scared Of Everything And Nothing,’<\/em> sees him admit that old worries are soon replaced by something else. Later on, the lead album single, ‘Who\u2019s Having Fun?’<\/em> provides an earworm hook with personal doubt lyrically woven in. However, true to their DIY ethos, there is a determination to Ciaramitaro’s outlook.<\/p>\n