''Highly Irresponsible'' is the debut studio album by American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band

Better Lovers Better Lovers is an American hardcore punk band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 2023 after the dissolution of Every Time I Die, the group consists of vocalist Greg Puciato, guitarists Jordan Buckley and Will Putney, bassist Stephen Micciche, ...

. It was released on October 25th, 2024 through

SharpTone Records SharpTone Records is an American independent record label started on September 11, 2013. The label was founded by Nuclear Blast CEO Markus Staiger and former vice president of Sumerian Records Shawn Keith. History Conception and first releas ...

. The album was self-produced by guitarist

Will Putney Will Putney (born May 29, 1983) is an American record producer and musician based in New Jersey. He is the guitarist and co-founder of deathcore band Fit for an Autopsy, as well as the guitarist of metalcore supergroup End, and hardcore punk su ...

Background

After the release of their debut EP ''God Made Me An Animal'' in 2023, Better Lovers toured extensively in North America and Europe, but also made time to record and release a pair of singles, "Two Alive Amongst The Dead" and "The Flowering." Between those singles, the band confirmed to

Revolver Magazine ''Revolver'' is an American heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published by Project M Group. It was originally launched under Harris Publications in the spring of 2000 by Tom Beaujour and Brad Tolinski, who envisioned it as an American ...

that "they have a whole album’s worth of new songs in the works." In January 2024, the band confirmed their debut full-length record would be released later in the year, and unlike ''God Made Me An Animal'', wouldn't be a surprise release - "to do that with the sixteen new songs we’ve written would be unsafe." The album was recorded in January and February 2024 at

's Graphic Nature Audio studio in

Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "beautiful town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 (+6.4%) from the 2010 ...

. Social media posts from the band suggested as many as 17 tracks were recorded during that time, but only 10 were featured on the album.

Release

On July 30, 2024, ''Highly Irresponsible'' was announced for release on October 25, along with the album art and tracklist. The next day, the band released the lead single, "A White Horse Covered In Blood." Three more singles followed over the coming months: "Future Myopia" on August 28, "At All Times" on September 25, and "Love As An Act Of Rebellion" on October 22nd. The record will be supported with a North American tour with Full of Hell,

Gouge Away Gouge Away is an American hardcore punk band based in Florida that formed in 2012. The band is influenced by post-hardcore and noise rock bands such as Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, Unwound, the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower and Nirvan ...

Cloakroom A cloakroom, known as a coatroom and checkroom in North America, is a room for people to hang their coats, cloaks, canes, umbrellas, hats, or other outerwear when they enter a building. Cloakrooms are typically found inside large buildings, ...

and Spy during Fall 2024, the band's second annual Blissmas festival in

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

in December, and a United Kingdom tour with Frontierer and Greyhaven in January 2025.

Critical reception

''Highly Irresponsible'' has received generally favorable reviews from critics. Reviews often make comparisons to releases from

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams, ...

and

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...

. Dom Lawson of

Blabbermouth.net ''Blabbermouth.net'' is a website dedicated to metal and rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. It is run by the website's founder Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001. In October 2001, the rec ...

calls the album "Punishingly heavy at times, but smart and subtle too, 'Highly Irresponsible' is a sophisticated and schizophrenic metal record: perfect for these confused and bewildering times." Writing for

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

, Sam Law observed "on one hand, the Buffalo supergroup’s bringing together of he band membersconsolidates decades of learning from heavy music’s cutting-edge and a fanbase ravenous to tear into some truly brilliant, unhinged sounds. On the other, it invites impossible comparisons to past records which will, frankly, never be topped." In his review for

LouderSound ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...

, Matt Mills describes the album as "the sound of five cult stars clinging to the characteristics that made them cult stars, and it’d be hard to fault them for doing that. However, there’s no sense of rejuvenation that makes this feel like the new, refreshing force people crave. It’s a damn sight better than finding a dead dove in a bag, though."

Track listing

All music written by Better Lovers.

Personnel

;Better Lovers *

Greg Puciato Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. In addition to being a solo artist, he currently fronts Better Lovers and t ...

– vocals, lyrics *Jordan Buckley – guitar *

– guitar *Steve Micciche – bass *Clayton "Goose" Holyoak – drums ;Production *

– production, engineering, mixing, mastering *Steve Seid – engineering *Tommy Vasta – production assistant *Don Phüry – artwork

References

{{Authority control 2024 debut albums SharpTone Records albums Albums produced by Will Putney