THE 1984 DRAFT, a band who channels American rock sensibilities through a ‘90s-tinted punk and indie lens, says Idioteq, are set to release their sophomore LP, Best Friends Forever, on January 19, 2023, via Poptek Records, Sell The Heart Records, and Engineer Records.
This LP follows their critically lauded debut album, Makes Good Choices, which made a bunch of “best of the year lists” in 2018, and a trio of 7″s, including splits with Gordon Withers (Jawbreaker on Cello, J Robbins Band) and Todd Farrell Jr. (Two Cow Garage, Benchmarks).
“I thought I had Best Friends Forever completely written shortly after the release of Makes Good Choices”, said Joe Anderl, frontman for The 1984 Draft. “We began recording the record ourselves and then Chip Heck’s board got fried. That caused us to pause and then Covid hit. With the additional time at home, I kept writing, so some songs were swapped out.”
The 1984 Draft are: Joe Anderl- vocals, guitar, Justin Satinover- drums, Eli Alban- guitar, Chip Heck- bass.
“We did not intend for it to take this long to release another full-length, but it is the card that was dealt and I couldn’t be happier this how it turned out,” Anderl adds.
According to Anderl, Best Friends Forever continues to tell the story laid out on Makes Good Choices. “I’m still writing songs about my family and life in general. This is my photo album of a period of time in my life. My kids continue to grow, I continue to evolve, and the world continues to be a mess. I think we cover a little bit of all of that on this record.”
The album was recorded by Fred Vahldiek (Dark Backward) at his Fredzoz studio in the band’s hometown of Dayton, Ohio. It was mastered by Chris Common (Mastodon, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Le Butcherretes). The album also features contributions from Susie Ulhrey (Pohgoh), Todd Farrell Jr. (Benchmarks, Two Cow Garage), and Sean Gardner (Denovo, Kopaz, The Receiver, Winter Makes Sailors, Minnows), and Cherry Fullam.
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