We first covered Dry Socket back in 2020, a year after the band formed in Portland, Oregon. They initially were drawn together by a mutual love for the rapid-fire hardcore of groups like Tear It Up and Kill Your Idols. I included them on my 12 Newer Hardcore Bands to Check Out list in 2021, so you might know how I feel about them already.
Penning the kind of thought-provoking and politically-charged songs lyric sheets were made for, Dry Socket's previous releases include two excellent EPs (2020's Shiver and 2022's Cessation), and most recently, an appearance on a compilation near and dear to their hearts: Autonomy Now! A Benefit for the Brigid Alliance. But more on that below.
With a West Coast tour starting next week, I chatted with Dry Socket vocalist Dani and guitarist Geoff about the forthcoming trip, their new music, and future plans.
Tell me a bit about Autonomy Now compilation and how you got involved.
Geoff (guitars): We knew Brian through his Sex and Glue Zine and podcast. At the time of Roe being overturned, we were talking a lot. Both of us felt limited in our abilities to effect change, but Brian honed in on creating a compilation to raise funds for pro-choice health accessibility initiatives.
The Brigid Alliance is the group that he felt most represented his and the contributing bands' ideals and goals for this comp. He was able to find lots of bands like The Path, Internal, Unit X, Psywarfare, Lesser Minds, and more to contribute unreleased recordings/songs.
Why did you choose “Keeper” as the song to submit for it?
Geoff (guitars): We felt a need to contribute an unreleased song to ideally help raise the most amount possible. We were in the process of tracking "Keeper" as a part of a larger cache of songs. It jumped to the front of the line of songs to complete and contribute because it aligned the most with the feelings of hopelessness felt then and now in both Dani's lyrics and vocals.
This West Coast run you’re doing in April looks interesting. I see that it includes a couple of festivals as well. Talk to me about how the tour came together and some of the bands you’re especially looking forward to seeing..
Dani (vocals): We got invited to play 510 Grind Fest in Oakland with a lineup you don't say no to. With bands like Pig City, Annapurna, Livid, NARC, and Violencia, it's going to be a really fun couple of days. Our last West Coast tour in August was put together extremely late, and it ended up being beyond our expectations of how all of the shows went. This time, we planned it out early and had a lot of shows coincidentally worked out super well.
For example, it was a priority for us to play Simi Valley based on how well the show went there last time. It's a great young scene which has a bunch of great bands like Ceramik and InXTime coming out of it. When I contacted them, it turned out they were already organizing Rapidfest for the weekend and we were able to just hump right on.
The day we are playing hasn't been fully announced yet, but Saturday is bonkers with Initiate, Greyhound, Dead Heat, and Entry. Outside of the fests, I am most looking forward to seeing Sweat, Big Laugh, Philistine, Groin, and Hummingbird of Death.
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What else has been happening in Dry Socket since we last spoke?
Dani (vocals): We took a step back at the end of 2022 to sort of examine our goals as a band. With jobs and getting older in general it gets harder to be as active as we would like to. The decision we all realized was that touring and weekends are what we wanted to prioritize for shows.
Our focus for now is doing tours or weekends through the year rather than playing Portland as much as we were. It makes it weirdly more manageable with work and life to just have chunks of time dedicated to the band, rather than a constant grind. It also leaves more space for writing and recording, which we hope to do a lot more of this year.
So, what else is on the horizon for Dry Socket after the April tour?
Dani (vocals): We just had the Crew Cuts Group Therapy 7-inch comp. come out a few weeks ago with a new song called "Out of Reach" on that. Other bands on it are GEL, Spaced, and Last Gasp. We were very stoked on how it turned out. We also have a big project that just got sent to the pressing plant that will be out sometime in 2023 (hopefully).
Moving forward we have a couple splits in discussion and are already planning the next LP. Our lineup changed a bit recently and it's exciting to start to map out the next phase of the band musically.
In terms of shows, we hope to hit the midwest later this year, have a couple fests in the works, and are open to opportunities as they come. It may not be until 2024, but Europe is on the short list of things to plan as well.
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Autonomy Now! A Benefit for the Brigid Alliance is available on cassette at this link.
Dry Socket West Coast tour dates:
Thu Apr 6 - Portland, OR @ Casa Weon
Fri Apr 7 - Oakland, CA @ 510 Grindfest
Sat Apr 8 - Oakland, CA @ 510 Grindfest
Sun Apr 9 - Ventura County, CA @ Rapidfest Skate Event
Mon Apr 10 - South Whittier, CA @ The Hideout
Tue Apr 11 - San Diego, CA @ Red Brontosaurus Records
Wed Apr 12 - Tucson, AZ @ Groundworks
Thu Apr 13 - Phoenix, AZ @ Xmas Island
Fri Apr 14 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Your Mom's House
Sat Apr 15 - Boise, ID @ The Shredder
Sun Apr 16 - Portland, OR @ The Doghouse
Sat/Sun Jun 16/17 Montesano, WA - PNW Harshfest
Dry Socket on social media: Instagram | Bandcamp
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