Atlanta’s Upchuck have unleashed their immediate and defiant new single, ‘Freedoom’. The track races with flashing depictions of sprawling street protests, bodies ducking in and out of cover under the glare of police sirens – riffing upon the band’s lived experiences while protesting against the state injustices that plague their hometown. ‘Freedoom’ pounces with a sense of youthful hunger that convincingly drags the post-’68 fever-pitch spirit of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Street Fighting Man’ into the 21st century.

Frontwoman Kaila Thompson (KT) recalls, “Trump was up for re-election, COVID had just started, they had just killed Rashard Brooks at the Wendy’s on the south side. And then they started bringing in tanks, which is just crazy to even say – there were tanks in downtown Atlanta. They were driving up kids after curfew, extended school buses full of swat teams, hanging out the windows with rubber-bullet-guns just pointing them out at us and laughing. From there they started gassing their own people, who really just wanted justice, and who were tired and fed up.

“‘Freedoom’ is those nights of sneaking around the city trying to make the perfect turn so that you don’t get trapped or grabbed up by whoever is around the corner. It’s about late night meetings in undisclosed places, of what to do next, and an overall feeling – it’s being free but also dealing with hell.”