Loaded up, cold steel
drop the hammer, and you’ll seal the deal
deep breath, sixteenth floor
one false move, long fall before ya meet the lord
and I find it funny that I think I owe it to myself
an eternal vacation from my demons and my mental health
but my race ain’t over, no I’m not givin’ up quite yet
I still got the one who I promised my last dance
It’s been a long goddamn while since a hardcore band blasted out of the gate with a sound as feral and kinetic – yet savvily refined in construction – as Guardrails.
Deftly bridging the gaps between Leeway, Cold World, and Madball, the rising quartet is about to lose its status as Richmond, Virginia’s best kept secret with a powerful and harrowingly vulnerable EP, If You Please, which rages and thrashes in all the best ways even as it explores the struggle to maintain an even keel in a modern world gone full on mad.
Decibel is pleased to exclusively premiere the first track from this straight-up monster – out April 22; preorder here – “Yours Truly,” below.
“‘Yours Truly’ is about checking on those around you and how a suicidal impulse can be disguised in many different ways,” vocalist Jesse “Jetski” Brinkley tells Decibel. “It’s not always someone saying ‘I’m tired of living – I’m gonna kill myself.’ It’s sometimes hidden behind anger, a laughing face, someone who is numb to the world. In the lyrics above I talk about the two times I attempted suicide. ‘I still got the one who I promised my last dance’ is actually a reference to our song ‘Swish’ on the demo/live session where I reference dancing with Death.
“The EP is a concept album about personal struggles of mental health, suicide, and anger problems I’ve encountered through life – and still do to this day. Therapy has played a major role in helping me overcome a lot, but is still a struggle throughout my life. Expire was one of the first hardcore bands I loved because of the songs they have about sucide and mental illness. I really connected with that on all levels. The EP is 5 songs and has clips from the same sample throughout the EP. The sample is actually a cover of ‘Suicide is Painless’ — better known as the M*A*S*H* theme song.”
Follow Guardrails on Instagram and catch the band on tour this weekend and beyond:
3/12 – Wilmington, DE @ Oddity Bar
3/13 – Baltimore, Md @ Holy Frijoles
3/14 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel
We also have a tour lined up with two bands that I can’t announce yet, but will be
4/29 – Allentown, PA @ TBA
4/30 – Scotia, NY @ TBA
Photo by Caleb Good.
