Texas-based indie/punk/rock band Riley! is gearing up to release their new album, Keep Your Cool, on April 19th via Counter Intuitive Records. Keep Your Cool is their third studio album, following 2018’s self titled debut album and 2021’s Already Fucked.
Riley! — consisting of members vocalist/guitarist Ryan Bluhmm (they/them), bassist Kris Gallardo (he/him), and drummer Cesar “Izzy” Izaguirre (they/them) — have shared another new single today, “Bad Boys Boxing Club.”
The single takes things to the next level for the trio, driven by drummer Cesar “Izzy” Izaguirre as they introduce an entirely different vocal style than Riley! has ever tried before. Between the song’s naturally bouncy instrumentation, the harsh vocal delivery from Izzy, and the self-aware dramatic lyrics, “Bad Boys Boxing Club” is one of the more jarring and intriguing singles on Keep Your Cool.
Listen to the new song below and pre-order the record here.
Pulling inspiration from bands like Glocca Morra, Algernon Cadwalladar, Hot Mulligan, Prince Daddy & the Hyena, and more, Keep Your Cool masters a balance between tongue-in-cheek playfulness — like on the anti-work anthem “Kill Yr Boss”-–and critical self-accountability––“guess I’m just a fucking asshole / throw me in a black hole,”they violently shout on “Die Mad.”
All three members of Riley! grew up in the same border town of Rio Grande Valley, TX — Izzy re-located there from Mexico and later joined the band in 2020. It’s the kind of place where you need to pass through border checkpoints just to visit other areas within your own country; they still get a bit of culture shock whenever they go on tour. Growing up in a place like that can put a heavy burden on a developing person, as much of Bluhm’s lyrics about addiction and self-sabotage can attest to, but the trio found its winning combination by putting that vulnerability, as dramatic and brash as it may seem, on full blast.
Artwork:
Track-listing:
- 777
- Keep Your Cool, Man
- Bad Boys Boxing Club
- Kill Yr Boss
- [cries in Spanish]
- Ego Peek Mid
- Die Mad
- Eat Your Heart Out
- God is an Algorithm and I’m Fighting for Attention With a Million Strangers on the Internet
- Talk It Out
