Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile have returned with their follow up to 2022′s breakout album ‘God’s Country’ with ‘Cool World’, the new 10-song LP set for release on October 11th via The Flenser.

Besides being the name of a largely forgotten (and panned) 90s film, ‘Cool World’ makes for an apt title of Chat Pile’s sophomore full-length record. In the context of a band record, the words are steeped in a grim double entendre that not only evokes imagery of a dying planet but a progression from the band’s previous work, moving the scope of its depiction of modern malaise from just ‘God’s Country’ to the entirety of humankind. “‘Cool World’ covers similar themes to our last album, except now exploded from a micro to macro scale, with thoughts specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another” says vocalist Raygun Busch. “If I had to describe the album in one sentence” Busch continues, “It’s hard not to borrow from Voltaire, so I won’t resist – ‘Cool World’ is about the price at which we eat sugar in America.” Album opener ‘I Am Dog Now’ arrives with a music video directed by Will Mecca. Stin (bass) says, “Will‘s vision captures the essence of ‘I Am Dog Now’ by channeling his specific style of low-fi, exploitation cinema aesthetic into a dusty, religious bad-trip exclusive to the southern plains of America. Eagle eyed viewers may actually notice shots of the literal chat piles from which we take our name.” Like the towering mounds of toxic waste, the music of Chat Pile is a suffocating, grotesque embodiment of the existential anguish that has defined the 21st Century. It figures that a band with this abrasive, unrelenting, and outlandish of a sound has stuck as strong of a chord as it has. Dread has replaced the American dream, and Chat Pile’s music is a poignant reminder of that shift – a portrait of an American rock band molded by a society defined by its cold and cruel power systems. Though very much on-brand with Chat Pile’s signature flavor of cacophonous, sludgy noise rock, the band’s shift to a global thematic focus on ‘Cool World’ not only compliments the broader experimentations it employs with their songwriting but also how they dissect the album’s core theme of violence.

‘Cool World’ will be released via The Flenser on October 11, 2024. See band on the road this November with label mates Agriculture and Mamaleek in select markets – tickets will be available at chatpile.net/shows and general on-sale is Friday, July 19th at 10am local time.

Chat Pile, on tour:

November 1 Oklahoma City, OK – 89th Street %
November 2 Columbia, MO – The Blue Note %
November 3 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room %
November 5 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall %
November 6 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line %
November 8 Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s %
November 9 Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre %
November 11 Toronto, ON – The Concert Hall %
November 12 Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount %
November 14 Burlington, VT – Showcase Lounge @ Higher Ground ^
November 15 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church ^
November 16 New York, NY – (Le) Poisson Rouge ^
November 17 Boston, MA – The Sinclair ^
November 19 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery *
November 20 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry *
November 21 Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819 *
November 22 Nashville, TN – The End *

% with Agriculture, Porcelain
^ with Mamaleek, Traindodge
* with Mamaleek, thirdface

‘Cool World’, tracklisting:

I Am Dog Now
Shame
Frownland
Funny Man
Camcorder
Tape
The New World
Masc
Milk Of Human Kindness
No Way Out

Photo by Matthew Zargoski