PAPA's new album Kick at the Dust is an affront to the burden of modern "culture" and an assertion of personal identity, defined through independent thought rather than a "lifestyle" that's been packaged and sold. 

It asks, what does it mean to strive for success in a society that disregards your values and the things you cherish most? It questions the very edifices within which we struggle to succeed. It asks us to resist losing ourselves to the cultural glamour that we neither understand nor value, yet make endless sacrifices to attain ("I know what I know, this ain't what we chose, but still it's hard to let it go," vocalist and drummer Darren Weiss sings on "Hold On"). And it asks that we look more carefully into the sort of living we buy into and -- to the music on the radio -- protests, "you don't speak on my behalf."

Having forsaken a damned system to self-finance this career-defining LP with producer Shawn Everett (Julian Casablancas, Alabama Shakes, Lucius) is proof of the band's artistic convictions and resolution to create their art their way. But, bigger proof yet, is the vibrant album that they made.

Pre-order now on standard black vinyl, limited to 500 copies. Includes digital download card. Out Sept. 16, 2016