Animal Style Records recently welcomed Los Angeles’ Stanley and the Search to their roster. The label announced the upcoming release of the Hell EP, due out August 7. Stay tuned for more details, song premieres and vinyl pre-orders!
You can stream/pay-what-you want for the band’s previous EP here.
From getting stranded on tour in Texas, to spending week after week couch surfing just to get by, Stanley and the Search has shown they are more than willing to go to the ends of the earth to pursue their passion. Upon leaving Oregon, music became an escape for the existentially frustrated frontman, Dominic Padilla. Padilla, along with the rest of Stanley and the Search, took the frustration built up from a long string of adversity and turned it into creative energy. This fueled the band of outsiders to create Hell, a fiery collection of five emotionally intense pop-punk songs.
Hell opens strong with a whirlwind drum fill to kick off the title track, an up-tempo pop-punk banger with downtrodden lyrics that explore the numbness of modern society and its toll on our humanity. Padilla sings, alternating with drummer Johnny Liu, “open your eyes and see the signs / you’re just another number / like all of the others” in a grim reminder that, to those at the helm, individuals are meaningless. Unlike many of their pop-punk peers, Stanley and the Search has a firm grasp on dynamics. In “Faith and Folly,” the band effortlessly transitions from heavy-hitting guitar driven riffs, sure to please fans of modern pop-punk mainstays The Story So Far, Citizen, and Polar Bear Club, to verses with a more laid-back approach that can be likened to Jimmy Eat World and Coming Home-era New Found Glory.
Stanley and the Search recorded Hell with producer Kyle Black (New Found Glory, State Champs, Hit The Lights). Black’s crisp, hard-hitting production style accents the music perfectly. Hell sounds absolutely massive and is brimming with energy – something any musician knows is no easy task to achieve in a studio setting.
Stanley and the Search are currently out on a co-headlining tour with This Legend, Dear You and Bad Luck in May. Remaining dates are listed below. Tour poster here.
MAY 11 – Kent, OH @ The Outpost
MAY 12 – Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck Bar
MAY 13 – Montreal, QC @ Foufones
MAY 14 – Providence, RI @ Simons 677
MAY 15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Coco 66
MAY 16 – Allentown, PA @ Planet Trog
MAY 17 – Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club
MAY 18 – Charleston, SC @ King Dusko
MAY 19 – Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
MAY 20 – Ocala, FL – The Courtyard
MAY 21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
MAY 22 – Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
MAY 23 – St Louis, MO @ The Firebird
MAY 24 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck
MAY 25 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
MAY 26 – Dallas, TX @ Sons of Herman Hall
MAY 28 – Mesa, AZ @ The Underground