(hed) p.e. debuted their new single “First Blood” and the lyric video can be seen below. It is the first song off their upcoming twelfth studio album, Class of 2020, which comes out on August 21st. According to frontman Jared Gomes:
“I wanted it to sound like the best garage band ever. Like you went to your friend’s band practice and were totally blown away. This track kicks off the record, and I can’t wait to open the show with it at a club near you. It will fuckin shred. One guitar, one bass, one riddim, one mic. Definitely some ’70s punk rock influence. The Clash and Minor Threat were on my mind a lot. The pendulum swung and whereas the last album was futuristic; this one is bare bones. These tracks will translate in the club. Straight up non-apologetic ‘Merican rock ‘n’ roll.”
Gomes said that the pandemic was difficult for the band but it forced him to get creative:
“We were on the road in the middle of a tour when the COVID-19 pandemic hit full force. Like everyone else on the planet, we were faced with some unprecedented challenges. As a small business owner of an independent band, I was faced with an additional set of challenges with the tour being canceled and making it back home from Rhode Island to Idaho. When I got home, I immediately got inspired creatively and hit the studio to smash out this record. For this one, we took it all back to our roots with a back-to-basics approach to try and capture that true G-Punk sound of our earlier albums.”
The August 21st release date of Class of 2020 also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the group’s breakthrough LP, Broke.
