Photo by Atiba Jefferson
Celebrated California hardcore crew DRAIN have announced their full length return, confirming the follow-up to their lauded 2023 LP, Living Proof. Back again on Epitaph Records, the band's third album is entitled ...IS YOUR FRIEND and showcases the Santa Cruz outfit at their most revelrous and most refined.
Working with producer Jon Markson (The Story So Far, Drug Church, One Step Closer) and recorded entirely live to best preserve the band's signature on-stage energy, the album further emphasizes DRAIN's brand of heft - bolstered with thrash-latent riffs, anthemic choruses and the kind of big moment breakdowns that make for one hell of a live experience.
To begin the rollout for the next wave of DRAIN, the band has introduced their ...IS YOUR FRIEND era with the album's lead single, "Nights Like These". Working with director Derek Rathbun, the accompanying music video offers a glimpse into what the golden years could look like for the hardcore trio and speaks to the kind of longevity the band aspires to.
Frontman Sammy Ciaramitaro shared, “Over the last decade of doing DRAIN, I've been able to see the world, meet incredible people, experience all sorts of incredible highs and even a couple of lows - but most importantly, I got to do all of those things with my best friends. No matter how much we accomplish and how big we grow - we are still just a couple of friends who get to play music together, make memories all over the world, and we are SO aware of how lucky we are to do it. THAT is what "Nights Like These" is about.”
The concept of the clip frames the power and celebration of the band's raucous live show in the present day with a look at what that might look like decades ahead. Getting creative and using their dads and uncles as stunt doubles, the end result is an endearing good time of a music video that fits in line with DRAIN's brand of joyous hardcore.
When we were coming up with ideas for this video, I thought it would be so cool to try and make us look old and play a show as seniors,” Ciaramitaro explained. “We could have gone the route of using make-up and practical effects, but then it clicked in my brain...I am going to look just like my dad when I get old - I should just use him.”
En route to the November 7th release of ...IS YOUR FRIEND, DRAIN will be spending the summer on the road with a series of live dates, including highly-touted appearances at The Vans Warped Tour, Inkcarceration in Ohio, Louder than Life Festival in Louisville, the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, Furnace Fest in Alabama as well as their own headlining dates along the way. See a complete list of tour dates below. Get tickets - HERE
...IS YOUR FRIEND, the third full length album from DRAIN lands November 7th via Epitaph Records. Order the album - HERE
DRAIN 2025 TOUR DATES
June 10 – Amityville, NY – Amityville Music Hall
June 11 – Syracuse, NY – The Song & Dance
June 13 – Reading, PA – Reverb
June 14-15 – Washington, DC – Warped Tour *
June 16 – Richmond, VA – The Warehouse
June 17 – Asheville, NC – Eulogy
June 19 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
July 18 – Mansfield, OH – Inkcarceration Fest *
July 26-27 – Long Beach, CA – Warped Tour *
Sept. 18 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life *
Sept. 20 – Worcester, MA – New England Metal & Hardcore Festival
Sept. 23 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo RiverWorks
Oct. 3-5 – Princeton, AL – Furnace Fest *
Oct. 12 – Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
Oct. 14 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
Oct. 15 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Oct. 17 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
Oct. 21 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
Oct. 23 – Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades
Oct. 24 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic
Oct. 25 – Riverside, CA – Riverside Municipal Auditorium
Oct. 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
Nov. 15-16 – Orlando, FL – Warped Tour *
*Festival Play
