Southern California band The Garden have announced their new album, Horseshit on Route 66, due out September 8th. The album marks twin brothers Wyatt & Fletcher Shears first independent release since a run of critically acclaimed records with Epitaph, and their most blistering collection yet. Lead single “Orange County Punk Rock Legend” combines sunny guitars and bit-crushed drums over a snarling hook. The song “was written in the back of an old restaurant called Yang Ming” explains Wyatt, “I decided to write it after being slapped by the old cook.” The video finds the band in full jester attire, ripping it up at the skatepark while a towering clown looms in the background. It’s quintessential for the singular duo.

Formed by twin brothers Wyatt and Fletcher Shears in 2011, The Garden slowly but surely amassed a devoted fanbase, playing countless shows and embarking on DIY tours across the United States. They’ve slept in cars, on park benches, and on peoples’ floors across Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Russia and the rest of the world. The blistering combination of their prolific live show and penchant for flashy visuals proved undeniable – with each coming tour, the venues grew bigger and the crowds wilder. “I think it’s helped us to have such a slow progression up to where we are now,” says Fletcher, reflecting on the band’s steady climb. 

The 11-tracks that make up their latest, Horseshit On Route 66, are some of The Garden’s most fiery endeavors to date. Recorded in Downtown Los Angeles, the record pulls from the legacies of Southern California hardcore and UK punk, but continues to experiment with dissonant electronics and the drum & bass sound the duo is known for. Though plans to record in a ghost town and set up camp “somewhere haunted” were abandoned, that spirit is embodied in the record. “A good chunk of the songs were inspired by the “scary stories” we read as kids and our interest in the supernatural,” says Wyatt. The duo also cite children’s book illustrator Stephen Gammell as a major reference point, his drawings infused with the same underlying menace that their music evokes.