Smut burns bright in their third album ‘Tomorrow Comes Crashing’
Returning with a new rhythm, the Chicago band deliver an electrifying new sound.
Photo: David Williams
Chicago’s DIY indie-punk band, Smut, released their third studio album, Tomorrow Comes Crashing, showcasing an epic evolution for the group’s dynamics.
Dynamism proved to be the overarching theme since the band’s last release How The Light Felt, embracing change and stretching into new sounds.
Composed of vocalist Tay Roebuck, guitarist Andie Min, guitarist Sam Ruschman and Aidan O’Connor on drums, the group welcomed John Steiner on bass guitar. This change marked something special for the group, revitalising them in a way that altered their recording process. Crafted in a nearly live ten-day recording session in Brooklyn, New York, Smut produced an unskippable ten-track record that builds on itself in a brilliantly beautiful way.
Over a killer guitar intro to their first track, Godhead, Roebuck’s vibrant vocals cut through the noise as she sings, “Meet me in the afternoon / Be the godhead over you”. Inspired by her own self-doubt developing as the band’s frontman since 2017, Roebuck reflected on her direction as an artist and whether or not she could reach the potential she thought she always wanted to live up to. Roebuck contemplated where she belongs in the world, and what her purpose was meant to be all along. She reflected in her lyrics, “Do I want to be the dream / That I found at seventeen”, evaluating which way she can continue in her career as a singer-songwriter when fearing inevitable failure. The introspective lyrics are backed by a hopeful and exciting build as guitars shred behind her, illustrating her attempt to crawl out of the hole she’s in as the song closes with “Don’t let it end like this”.
Since the release of their last album in 2022 and the loss of bassist, Bell Cenower, Smut was forced to assess whether or not they would dissolve or continue. Dead Air is a celebration of perseverance despite the crippling loss to their rhythm section.
“Now I can’t walk forward without reaching behind me / It got so quiet”. Roebeck sang in a grating scream of release from the suspected frustration and sadness over the situation. It’s not as though the hits to the band’s frontman came from nowhere; outside influences of loss, deep frustration, and betrayal swirl together, though the ensemble took these bitter feelings and made them sweet while illuminating their new bassist, John Steiner.
For their closing track, Roebeck paid homage to her late sister who inspired their last album. Mourning lingers in her lyrics, reflecting on how minds can spiral in the face of death and years after a loss. “I see your smile in strangers / And I hear my mother torn to tears / The creeks are sitting empty and the laughter faded with the years”, she sang over this beguiling ballad. Listeners are haunted by the image of a place that will always feel like it’s missing something, but Roebeck presents it with an inherent charm and feeling of love that she has for her sister.
Despite the obstacles thrown at Smut over the years, Tomorrow Comes Crashing is proof of their resilience to overcome and transform into something better than before.
Tomorrow Comes Crashing is out now via Bayonet Records.