Oakland’s Cold Moon are a relatively new band whose bassist Will Levy plays guitar in The Story So Far and whose drummer Mike Ambrose is in Set Your Goals. Those are both pop punk bands named after pop punk songs (by New Found Glory and CIV, respectively), but Cold Moon is much different, and much lighter. They offer up a blend of dream pop, jangle pop, and emo that reminds me of Peripheral Vision-era Turnover, and they put a fresh spin on it.

Cold Moon released their debut EP Rising in 2019, and now they’re set to follow it with their first full-length album, What’s The Rush?, on May 7 via Pure Noise (pre-order). It was recorded with Jack Shirley (Jeff Rosenstock, Deafheaven, Joyce Manor, etc), and we’re premiering lead single “Simpleton” and its video.

“This track was super fun to make because it all came together so quickly,” says vocalist/guitarist Jack Sullivan. “I think we recorded it the same week we wrote the whole thing, not intending to record this when we booked the studio session. It was definitely one of those moments in songwriting that made it fun. Everything falling into place, everything felt effortless.”

Will Levy adds this about the song and video: “Break the norm, go upstream. Be kind to yourself and those around you, while trusting your gut and following what makes you truly happy.”

Check out the Timmy Lodhi-directed clip below…

Tracklist
1. Access Control
2. Simpleton
3. Lost
4. Frontage
5. Precognition
6. Gold Lake
7. High Mind
8. Nu
9. Di