Monk have always walked a line between aggression and introspection, but their new single “No Gods” cuts straight to the core of what the band stands for. With George Pettit of Alexisonfire joining on vocals, the track strips Monk’s sound down to its essentials and puts self-responsibility and personal agency front and center—ideas that have been there since the start, now impossible to ignore.
“No Gods” is about owning your life,” vocalist Frank Bach explains. “It’s a rejection of giving your power to systems, fear, leaders, or anyone else.”
Out now on Dine Alone Records, the single lands alongside a hardcore take on Blur’s “Song 2.” Both tracks arrive at a moment when Monk are clearly pushing themselves forward.
Since No Echo last checked in with Monk in 2023, the band have been on the road across North America, touring with D.O.A. and Single Mothers and digging deeper into Mexico’s hardcore scene.
“We covered a good chunk of North American touring, including a run deep into Mexico last year,” Bach says. “We’re looking forward to heading back down there and hopefully hitting more of Latin America soon.” They recently upgraded to a Ford Econoline 350, a van Bach calls an absolute tank.
Monk’s sound has sharpened since their early material. “The first release felt more like a demo,” Bach says, “whereas now things feel much more defined.” The band itself feels more serious and focused now than it did at the start. “We’re constantly planning for the future — where we want to tour, bands and people we want to collaborate with,” he says. “I guess we’ve become a ‘real band’ in some ways.”
That focus set the stage for Monk’s collaboration with George Pettit, an idea Bach had been carrying for years. He first met Pettit while playing in Vicious Cycle, touring Canada with Alexisonfire. “I always felt like there was some kind of unfinished chapter there creatively,” Bach says. “Working with him again has honestly been on my mind for almost 15 years.”
Bach let Pettit approach the material on his own terms. “You can’t really micromanage that kind of thing,” he says. “You have to let creativity flow and see what happens.” Monk undercut some of that heaviness of "No Gods" by pairing the single with Blur’s “Song 2,” a cover that started as a joke.
“We started teasing the Blur cover at shows in Mexico, and it unexpectedly helped bridge the language gap,” Bach says. “Even if someone doesn’t speak English, everybody knows ‘woohoo!’” The cover also pulls from Bach’s childhood. “I probably first heard it at a hockey game,” he says. “It brings back memories of hanging out with my dad before my family life imploded… simpler times.”
For Bach, the cover is a reminder that hardcore can take itself too seriously. “I think hardcore music has a real seriousness problem and we could all afford to lighten up a little,” he says.
Even with that sense of humor, Monk stay rooted in hardcore. Bach points to South Korea’s Slant, Puffer, Bootlicker, and Tijuana’s Worst Enemy as bands currently inspiring him.
Monk are planning more music, live shows, visual art, and a mini-documentary about their Mexico tour and the scenes they found there. They also launched a “mantra generator” for “No Gods,” which Bach coded himself in a few days.
Monk talk openly about mindfulness, ego, identity, and spirituality, but their sound remains raw and violent. They continue to carve out their own space in hardcore.
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Tagged: alexisonfire, monk
