MEDIA

ABOUT

For a band that was dreamt up in a hospital bed, indie-rock quartet E.R.I.E. certainly has a lot of life in them. After emergency heart surgery in the Fall of 2018, TJ Foster spent the following year writing and recording Don’t Wanna Live, Don’t Wanna Die in an attempt to not only reflect on the harrowing ordeals that brought him to that hospital room, but also to get back to his roots as a songwriter.

And while that March 2020 debut effectively highlighted a greatly personal, existential struggle with both mental and physical health, second LP Suburban Mayhem arrives with grander scope and vision. The album, due April 7th via Mint 400 Records, turns its focus externally, commenting vividly on the outside forces burrowing into our brains on a daily basis. It’s a resplendent examination of the world around us, rife with equal parts cynicism, wit and hope. Featuring pitch-perfect collaborations with Brooklyn-based dream-pop trio ALMA, and fellow Albany, NY area songwriter Sydney Worthley, the record showcases a band not only finding their footing, but settling into a signature sound affectionately self-described as Tom Petty cosplaying as blink-182.

The four members of E.R.I.E. - guitarist Matt Delgado, drummer Chad Flewwelling and bassist Levi Jennes, alongside Foster - spent most of 2022 self-recording their sophomore full-length, yielding 12 nostalgia-tinged songs tailormade for turning the dial to 11. Suburban Mayhem further lends credence to the frequent comparisons to The Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner and The Get Up Kids that the band has garnered, with its “crunching guitars, catchy choruses and a down-to-earth, working-class vibe that recalls modern heartland punk rock…” (Daily Gazette).

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All the while, E.R.I.E. has solidified themselves as one of the most reliable and entertaining live acts in the greater Albany, NY music scene. With every performance brimming with energy, vulnerability and appreciation, the band is “a class act with lots of passion and a great chemistry, making them very easy to cheer for…” (Nippertown). It’s this, combined with the consistently strong Suburban Mayhem, that has E.R.I.E. poised to quickly become a suburban success story.