Release Date: May 28, 2021 Genre: Pop Punk Label: Fearless Records
The British/American pop-punk trio As It Is formed of vocalist and drummer Patty Walters, bassist Alistair Testo, and guitarist Ronald Ish are back with their angriest song to date. On May 28th, As It Is shared their newest single, "IDGAF," alongside its accompanying music video. It gives you a brief look at what the band has been brewing up since the release of four reimagined EPs of tracks off their third album, The Great Depression. While "IDGAF" is an angry track, it will leave you singing along during your first listen with its infectious chorus and melodies, which leave you craving even more new tunes from the pop-punk band -that you should expect very soon. The song serves as a unifying, emotional, and inspired battle cry from the last year that the entire population has been living through during the pandemic and its associated lockdowns.
"'IDGAF' was the first thing we created that made us feel anything," the band reveals. "It harnesses so many feelings that we've all been experiencing, so if you're anxious, heartbroken, pissed off, and wanna give the fuck up, turn the volume up. The raw attitude and energy of this track ended up defining the direction of the rest of this record. This is As It Is -unsettled, unhinged, and unboxed."
Even though the band is down two members since they last released music, musically, "IDGAF" doesn't stray far off from the sound the band overtook on their third album, The Great Depression. "IDGAF" is the true embodiment of both sides of the band; emo meets pop-punk. However, instrumentally, the song blurs the line between alternative rock and pop-punk. The track's angry, emotionally driven lyrics paired with Walters's emotive vocals and Testo's spoken word push the song to a pretty familiar sound the band has been for years. As It Is' previous full-length album, The Great Depression, took the band into a newfound territory and propelled the band forward conceptually and musically. The album was produced by MACHINE (Lamb of God, Every Time I Die), was a well-layered and technically accomplished record. "IDGAF" is a further step forward for the band. As aforementioned, As It Is went on to release a series of four EPs in 2019, featuring the entire album completely reimagined.
"We started writing the next chapter of As It Is in 2019," the band continutes. "We had written a lot of cool songs but none of them were telling our story or communicating how we were actually feeling. When 'IDGAF' happened, it was the first thing that incapsulated the heartbreak, defeat, and disappointment we were feeling with ourselves and the world around us. When the pandemic happened and the world shut down, that's when we really spiraled. We're unwell and we have been. 'IDGAF' is all in the title. It's for all of us and it's yours now."
With the release of their brand new single, it won't be too long before As It Is will be releasing their much anticipated fourth studio record via Fearless Records.
