Gouge Away

Forming in South Florida with the intention torecord a short EP and play one show, Gouge Away were driven by the need towrite music and take a stab at topics they weren’t hearing in their localscene. They were influenced by bands like Fugazi, Unwound, The Jesus Lizard,Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Paint it Black.

A couple years later, they put out “, Dies” onlocal label, Eighty-Sixed Records, which they didn’t expect to reach beyondtheir hometown. After some touring, they released “Burnt Sugar” on DeathwishInc. in 2018 which naturally took a more personal approach when ChristinaMichelle was dealing with her mom’s heart complications and misdiagnoses.Following the release of the album, they toured extensively throughout the USand beyond. While on tour and in their small pockets of downtime, they eagerlywrote and demoed songs for a third album, pulling influence not only from thenostalgia of the bands they grew up listening to, but developing and pushingthe sense of urgency, noise, and introspective lyrics they felt mostrepresented them.

Touring came to a halt in 2020, canceling afull year of plans in an instant. Gouge Away took time for themselves to moveto different parts of the country and focus on their personal lives. On NewYears Eve just beginning 2022, they decided it was time to revisit their demoedmaterial, and to do it justice by allowing it to see the light of day.

They recorded with Jack Shirley at AtomicGarden East in March 2023, completely analog to tape and almost entirely live,without the use of a computer. The goal was to sound like five friends playingmusic in a room together, unpolished and far from being over-produced, which iswhat the heart of Gouge Away has always been.

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