Drain - ...IS YOUR FRIEND

Drain throw open the pit on ...IS YOUR FRIEND, the Santa Cruz, California hardcore crew's 2025 album for Epitaph and a loud, sun-soaked invitation to join the party.

This is the band's third full-length, following California Cursed and Living Proof, and it leans harder than ever into what made their shows so legendary. Frontman Sammy Ciaramitaro set out to bottle that live energy and write songs for bigger rooms, even freestyling chunks of the record rather than committing every word to paper in advance.

Opener "Stealing Happiness from Tomorrow" kicks the door in, "Loudest in the Room" lives up to its name, and "Nights Like These" keeps the circle pit spinning. Guitarist Cody Chavez holds everything between hardcore punch and metallic crunch, with riffs built for gang vocals and stage dives.

Ten songs, barely any wasted motion, and a spirit that treats hardcore as a community rather than a competition. Even the heaviest moments carry a grin, and the whole thing feels designed to be shouted right back at the stage.

It is a celebration of sweaty shows, shared mics and the friends you make in the pit, pressed with enough snap to make a bedroom feel like a packed basement gig.