The Rocky Valentines will release their debut album Erase via Tooth & Nail Records on March 29. Pre-order it here.
The album was mixed by Bob Hoag (The Ataris, Fine China) and mastered by Jason Livermore (Descendents, All, NOFX), and features artwork by Jake Quintanar.
The band is "all in the family," as singer Charles Martin is the son of Jason Martin of longtime T&N band Starflyer 59. In fact, they released a split, four-song EP on the label last year.
Today, The Rocky Valentines have share the new single "Sing the Song." Listen here.
"This song was about turning 20, and not knowing where my life was heading from there on," Martin says. "It was the last song I wrote before the recording of the record, and was pretty last minute. I had always wanted to have a loud distorted song like this, and oddly enough it became my favorite on the record."
Martin sings that he feels like "a one-man band."
He's not specifically singing about the lack of bandmates on "Scream and Shout," but the album credits aren't exactly littered with other names either. With an assist on bass throughout from Steve Dail (Project 86, Crash Rickshaw), and a recording credit for his father, Jason Martin (Starflyer 59), the younger Martin does the bulk of the work himself across the LP's eight tracks.
Building on 2022's four-song, self-titled EP, Erase exhibits a host of influences — most of which stopped being relevant before the 20-year-old Charles was born — bundled up in arrangements that never feel cluttered.
Erase is a record that harkens back to some of rock's best moments, though its most important influence might be Charles himself. Mixing Grant Hart's earworm melodies with heavier-than-hell guitar riffs in the style of Tony Iommi, Martin combines it all with a measured restraint, allowing his vocals to shine without a lot of studio trickery.
Lyrically, Erase evokes a young man in the throes of his salad days but is self-aware enough to be bookended by tracks about growing older — album-opener "Sing the Song" — before closing with the title track’s funeral setting.
All of it melds together to reveal a young artist mastering his craft while maturing into adulthood.
