LA emo-punks Sad Park have just released their third album and first for Pure Noise, No More Sound. It was produced by AJJ’s Sean Bonnette, who says, “I had the joy and honor of producing Sad Park’s latest album No More Sound, and no bullshit–it is one of the best records I’ve ever been a part of. You ever see a band so pure in their intentions that it makes you ashamed? That’s Sad Park. They are true in a way that so many of their peers couldn’t be if they tried–because to be that true, it has to be effortless. All hail Sad Park!”

To celebrate its release, the band has give us a breakdown of every track. Stream the LP and read on for what they had to say…

“NO MORE SONGS”
The song actually started as a fully orchestrated, punky song that Graham wrote a couple years ago. We had spent months debating whether or not it would be on the album. I (Grant) felt like the melody was too catchy to not be there and Graham felt like the original version was outdated for us, stylistically. Eventually Graham came up with the compromise of making it an acoustic track, and it ended up being a central musical theme of the album.

“ALWAYS AROUND”
This is about enjoying the moments you’re in and appreciating them while they’re happening. This was another song that we had for a while. The original version was something we wrote all the way back in like 2018 right after “Sleep” came out. We reworked a lot of it structurally, and Sean Bonnette suggested the “gallopy” feel during the main riff.

“OMW”
This was one of the earliest songs we wrote for this album. We recorded it in Summer of 2022 (a couple months before the rest of the album), because we had just signed to Pure Noise and they wanted a single to go with it. This was really the only song we had ready and we had just gotten off a bunch of tours so that’s kinda where that song came from thematically.

“WATCH THE WORLD FALL DOWN”
This song is about making the most of the time you have with someone in a very unsure time. It had the working title “Pavement” for a long time, and was one of the first songs we wrote that had that kind of ’90s-alt aesthetic we were kind of inspired by for this album. Also, as a drummer, I definitely was influenced by (ripped-off) Travis Barker for the big snare drum build during the bridge so this track is one of my personal favorites.

“CAROUSEL”
This is probably our favorite song. We actually didn’t know if it would make it on the album when we went in to record, but Sean was a huge proponent of keeping it on the record so we said “fuck it” and recorded it anyway. I feel like the emotional core of this whole album can be really summarized by the line “Don’t go, please stay. Dream this dream with me again.” It even shows up again as a main part of the last track! The huge guitar solo at the end was added super last minute by Sam, Aidan and Eric Jimenez (from Together Pangea) after most of us had left the studio and it ended up becoming one of the most important songs for the entire album.

“I CAN’T FIGHT IT”
As soon as we wrote this song, we kinda figured it would be the end of side A. It has all the hallmarks of the type of song we would end an album with; quiet beginning, big driving middle section, and a repetitive loud ending that slowly dies out into something more vulnerable. BUT, we already knew what the last track was gonna be so this one got slotted here. It’s a pretty personal song, but is basically about what happens when people who used to be important to you suddenly cut you out of their life.

“THE NEW SLOW”
This track is kind of about not abiding by the societal standards of what it means to be “a man.” Musically, this is probably the most different song for us on the record, and I think Sean’s influence is the most noticeable here. Sean has some added background vocals, and recorded some of the guitars as well. I think the slide guitar that Sam added in also REALLY ties the whole track together.

“THE ART WILL BE GONE”
I feel like this one kind of encapsulates the energy (good and bad) that being on the road can bring. Like the lines in the second verse about driving a busted van down the side of the highway for miles and hating that never ending tour. That’s a very real feeling that I’m sure anyone who’s been in a band has experienced at SOME point in time. The name came from an old demo we had of this track where we’re rushing to start the song after we start recording and you can hear me say “If we don’t capture the art now, the art will be gone!” But, I personally like to think you can interpret it as a statement about how the negative aspects of being in a band can kill the fun and joy you originally had.

“DEATH”
This is a very important song for the album. It talks about the importance of appreciating the time you have and never taking it for granted. We wrote the original version of this song just a few weeks before we went into the studio. Sean hadn’t heard it yet and was basically like, “Are you guys still down for notes?” and then we ended up cutting like a minute and a half off of the song; pretty much rewriting the whole thing in the studio.

“FALLING OVER YOU”
This is maybe the most straightforward song we have on the album. Another song that we wrote really early on. It was originally much busier, but Sean kept pushing us to simplify it and “get out of each other’s way.” I think, honestly, that’s the most important thing about this song, because that mindset definitely bled into how we wrote and recorded the other tracks on the album.

“MONEY IN THE BAG”
Fuck yeah, This song slaps. We wrote this song pretty quickly as just a straightforward punk track. Sean and Danny Nog Graham had the line “put the money on the bag” all the way back on the original demo, and Sean was the one who suggested we move closer to telling a story about a robbery with the lyrics. We also joked that the second chorus telling people to “wave their arms around” had the potential to be a good tik-tok trend, so we kept it.

“PARKING LOT”
This song is definitely an emotional one. Even though it’s a similar sentiment to “OMW,” this one feels much more like a straight up love song (and also probably has the best chorus of the whole album). Even though the lyrics were written about a situation specific to being in a touring band, that feeling of longing for someone is a very universal emotion, so hopefully people can relate to that.

“NO MORE SOUND”
This song is one of my favorites. It’s basically a combination of a bunch of different parts of the album. “NO MORE SONGS,” “CAROUSEL,” “ART WILL BE GONE,” and even parts of “MONEY IN THE BAG,” that I feel really comes together to create the strongest version of a thesis statement this album has to offer. I also absolutely love how this song/album ends. The exposed screaming vocals of the end feels like such a nice compliment to the exposed delicate vocals of the beginning of the album. It just feels poetic? Although at the time, we just thought it was a cool powerful way to end the song!

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Sad Park are on tour with The Frights through July, and then they hit the road opening for AJJ. The tour with The Frights comes to NYC on July 15 at Brooklyn Made. All dates:

Sad Park — 2023 Tour Dates
7/7 Austin, TX @ Parish *
7/8 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger *
7/9 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
7/11 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade *
7/13 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Baltimore *
7/14 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas *
7/15 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made *
7/16 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
7/18 Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s *
7/19 Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge *
7/21 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown *
7/22 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater *
7/25 Seattle, WA @ Madame Lous *
7/26 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre *
7/28 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
8/17 Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit ^
8/19 Lexington, KY @ The Burl ^
8/20 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In ^
8/21 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle ^
8/22 Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre ^
8/24 Charleston, SC @ Music Farm ^
8/26 Memphis, TN @ Growlers ^
8/27 St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall ^
8/29 Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note ^
8/31 Oklahoma City, OK @ Resonant Head ^
9/1 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad ^
9/9 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre

* = with The Frights
^ = with AJJ