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Jul 30, 2021 By Caleb Campbell

Indie folk outfit TEOA (The End of America) is releasing their fourth full-length album Night Is Alive later this fall. Coming after over a decade as a band, the band’s new record sees the trio reckoning with the country they have spent the last ten years traveling together, writing with their trademark honesty, good humor, and plaintive harmonies. Following a near-constant run of singles last year, the band returned this year with “I.F.H.” and are now back with their latest release from the album, “Push Back,” premiering with Under the Radar.

Though the band is no stranger to heavy topics, “Push Back” sees the band’s message take on new fervent power. Songwriter James Downes was in Newtown, CT the day of the tragic Sandy Hook shootings, and eight years later he wrote “Push Back” to reflect on the experience, acting as a call for action and a cry of raw solidarity with victims of gun violence. The band’s trademark harmonies fall away in the final lines of the chorus as they cry together, “push back.” As Downes says, “‘Push Back’ was written to feel good singing at the top of my lungs with a live audience. It’s a comfort thing: the raised voices of the crowd shouting the very words that will ease my worries.

A song like this won’t fix anything outright. It won’t help us get the bad guys or bring back anyone we’ve lost, but in that brief moment that we’re playing it live, I hope it makes us feel just a little more connected.”

He continues saying of the song, “Who would want to write a song about gun violence? For that matter, who’d want to listen to one?” Those are the thoughts that rattled around in my head when this emerged from my subconscious. But actually being in Newtown, CT on the day that the Sandy Hook tragedy occurred, actually seeing the parade of ambulances and knowing their precious cargo, I’ll never be able to let that go. This song had to come out. It’s a topic that can’t be ignored.

I don’t want to bum people out, I want to make music that lifts people. But you know what? Sometimes we have to let that heavy shit out so that people know they aren’t the only one feeling this way. Sometimes a heavy song can make you feel more connected to the fact that there’s a positive force pushing back against the insanity of this world. My hope is that this song ignites that flame in others.”

Check out the song below and watch for Night is Alive, due out on November 12. Check out more from the band at their website.
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