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Nov 10, 2021 By Caleb Campbell

Los Angeles-based alt pop duo WARBLY JETS have returned bigger and more ambitious than ever on their sophomore full-length record, MONSTERHOUSE. Following their 2017 debut and their 2019 EP Propaganda, the band pared back to the original duo of Samuel Shea and Julien O’neill and began taking a larger role in production, marking a new phase in the band’s life. MONSTERHOUSE is the realization of those ambitions, taking the band’s sound to towering new heights. The full record is out November 12th, but you can get an early listen below, premiering with Under the Radar.

MONSTERHOUSE quickly earns its name, building up a monstrous storm of influences, both classic and contemporary. The band lists Beck and Beastie Boys as influences, ones that certainly shine through on the sample-heavy instrumentals and towering hooks of tracks like “NASA” or “I WANT IT ALL.” Yet, they marry the layers of muscular guitars, propulsive bass riffs, and stomping percussion with inspiration from alt pop contemporaries like Billie Eilish and famed producers like Rick Rubin and Dangermouse. Within their marriage of rock and alt pop they explore synth-laden soundscapes like on the title track, danceable funk rhythms like on LOW RESOLUTION, and boisterous freewheeling highlights like NO BRAINER. It’s a slick work of forward-thinking alt pop with just enough chaos to capture the band’s DIY approach.

Check out the album early below. MONSTERHOUSE is out everywhere on November 12th.

In the years between conceptualizing MONSTERHOUSE and writing your last album, how would you say WARBLY JETS has evolved, and in what ways does that manifest in this new record?

Julien O’neill: Everything changed. Our lineup, style, appearances. Shedding our skin felt like an important growth spurt waiting to happen within the last two or three years and musically we wanted to make something totally unique in our minds. Sam and I were able to approach this album with a very free, open canvas.

Samuel Shea: We’ve essentially started over. In the process of writing, recording, and touring the first record we felt like an identity had been created for us that didn’t represent who were were or the kind of music we connect with anymore. The 3 years prior to Covid moved fast and in a lot of ways, were out of our control. It felt like we were never given the time to set our intentions, just trapped playing the part. In making this record we knew that the only way we would be able to create a new identity for ourselves was to unplug from the machine and get to work just the 2 of us in the studio.

To be honest, we skipped some steps in the process of evolving. I think it will be difficult for some of our fans to see this release as an evolution vs a diversion. Rapid growth and big changes can often have that effect. This is a no boundaries, no limits record. We HAD to give ourselves that freedom in order to feel good about continuing this project at all. If there are more albums to come from us in the future, MONSTERHOUSE will likely make more sense as a chapter of our story.

Would you say that there’s a general theme that runs throughout MONSTERHOUSE, or do each of the tracks tell their own individual story?

Julien O’neill: Claustrophobia and abstraction. Feelings of exhaustion, separation, self-aggrandizement, narcissism through paranoia, but also finding comfort in acceptance and shaking off the things that plague us.

Samuel Shea: While it has uplifting moments, I’d be lying if I made this out to be a happy record. It’s a cathartic release while the many frustrations that have come with simply existing as ourselves. The music is the only thing that’s ever held this whole machine together. That can often be forgotten in a sea of modern qualifiers for being an artist. The emotions that come with that were channeled into every song.

If you were to pick a track that is the most significant to you out of the entire tracklisting, which song would that be, and why?

Julien O’neill: It’s really hard to choose. For me it could be any track on any given day because they’re all so different it depends on what mood I’m in. That’s an intentional part of the album.

Samuel Shea: “NASA.” It was the first song I wrote that I knew would set a standard for the rest of the tunes. It combined everything that we’ve been known for to date, (bombastic choruses, big drums, guitar riffs) with a stylized step forward in the new shoes we wanted to grow into aesthetically. Even though it’s been released as a single for over a year at this point I think that song has yet to see its day.