Their recent singles, ‘Jewel Case’ and ‘Cringeworthy’, offer an exciting glimpse into the band’s next chapter. While ‘Jewel Case’ finally gives a long-time live favourite the studio treatment it deserves, ‘Cringeworthy’ turns emotional honesty into a rallying cry, exploring themes of shame, self-acceptance and personal growth with the band’s trademark wit and charm. Together, the tracks showcase Hayley and the Crushers at their most vulnerable, self-aware and unapologetically fun.

With a new album on the horizon and a reputation as one of punk’s most magnetic live acts, there’s plenty to be excited about in the Crushers’ world right now. I caught up with frontwoman Hayley Crusher Cain to chat about the band’s evolution, the stories behind the new music and what fans can expect from this latest era of Hayley and the Crushers.

Hi Hayley! For anyone discovering Hayley and the Crushers for the first time, how would you describe the band and the world you’ve created around it?

“Poolside Glitter Punk – all the fun stuff you’d find at the bottom of the pool after a really wicked party. It’s a little rock n roll, a little 80s new wave, always some sunny, beachy fun. The subject matter is hopefully enlightening, if not a tad cheeky. The Crusherverse is a portal to a colorful, joyfully chaotic world where anything can happen, and often does.”

Both your recent singles ‘Jewel Case’ and ‘Cringeworthy’ balance chaos, vulnerability and humour so perfectly. Do you feel more comfortable being emotionally honest in your songwriting now than when the band first started?

“Since I was a nine years old, journaling every day and reading Harriet the Spy, I have always considered myself a writer. Around the same time, I learned guitar, so songwriting became a way to anchor my experience and express what so often feels so unexpressable. When the band first started out, I still was trying to figure out how to write for the heart and the dance floor, if that makes sense. When it comes to crafting a song that hits someone in the gut, something people want to laugh (or cry) to, or call their best friend and confess their deepest darkest secrets, or just feel totally free to lose themselves in the moment, you have to think about so much more that just what you’re personally trying to say. It’s this process of going deep into the guts of the song, then zooming all the way to see the structure. You get 2 minutes and 30 seconds to transport someone, so how do you do that? Over the years I do think I’ve gotten better at answering this question, and trusting myself when it comes to songwriting, editing and execution. So if it seems like vulnerability is showing up more, I think that’s due to better songwriting all around. The vulnerability was always there, it just wasn’t always always getting across as effectively.”

‘Cringeworthy’ feels like a real celebration of letting go of shame and not caring about looking “cool” all the time. Was writing that song cathartic for you in any way?

“Totally. Shame is something we toss around from person to person (or generation to generation) like a hot potato. No one wants to hold it. The easiest modern example is when someone online calls someone else out for being “cringe.” This says so much about the judgmental party, not the person doing the so-called “cringe” thing. “Cringeworthy” is about when you finally look down and realize you’ve been holding someone else’s proverbial hot potato of shame, and realizing it’s OK to simply put it down and get on with your life. We all come to a place when we realize that not all of our baggage is our own. I am in that phase, and it feels really freeing and exciting.”

‘Jewel Case’ has been part of your live shows for years before finally getting a proper studio recording. Why did now feel like the right time to officially release it?

“’Jewel Case’ is one of my all-time favorite songs: always a favorite to play live, to close out the night. But now it’s a favorite studio track, too, and that feels so satisfying to know we finally gave it the love it deserves. It’s a real “party song” about how hard-partying can go totally awry, which I think is pretty funny, and very us. My D.A.R.E. officer would have loved it. Music is a hell of a drug. I’m stoked people are digging it and the video too.”

Your live shows have this reputation for being sweaty, chaotic and completely unpredictable. What do you want people to feel when they leave a Hayley and the Crushers show?

“It sounds cheesy, like I’m Richard Simmons or something, but I want audiences to feel like they can embody their larger selves, step into power and be joyful out loud, together.  Regardless of what the world throws at any of us, we always have this choice to grow or shrink. Music, all art, can help us get to the other side of life’s potholes. The fans who have stayed with the band have really grown with us over all these years. We have scars. But we also aren’t afraid of a fun hook or a little glitter or looking dumb to boring people. Our listeners always have a certain glimmer in their eye. They’re funny and smart and relish the chance to really let it all hang out. They understand you only live once. In a word, they are true Crushers!”

A lot of your recent material seems to explore burnout, identity, emotional baggage and modern disconnection, but always in this really vibrant, energetic way. How do you balance heavier themes with that sense of fun?

“Girls just wanna have fun. But seriously: People who present as “fun” and “colorful” usually do it from a place of needing that medicine first. Mary Poppins needed her own spoonful of sugar to really share that sweetness with the children, you know? I live with a lot of existential dread, intense feelings of anxiety/sadness and overwhelm in my own life. When I put on a hot pink catsuit and write a super bouncy pop song with a sweet ass riff, I am doing that for my own dopamine levels first. I truly need that medicine injected straight into my veins, stat. When an artist is living from a place of vibrancy, that light can illuminate others in new and interesting ways. I think this is the magic salve of music and art. Artists have lit my path for years, so this is my way of getting to do that for someone else, while we both digest those hard-to-deal-with topics. I’m grateful I get to do this.”

Finally, with a new album on the way this summer, what can fans expect from this next era of Hayley and the Crushers?

“The word that comes to mind is POWER! Like when Batman beats up the bad guy: Pow! Bomp! Crush! We tried not to overthink the songs or production and really just trust our gut as we continue to blend our basement Detroit sessions with the amazing resources we have to play with thanks to Josie Cotton, our LA with producers John Miller, Paul Roessler and Kitten Robot Records as a whole. We continue to be a band that’s too punk for pop and too pop for punk. So now we say, “let them eat glitter!”

The post Getting To Know… Hayley and the Crushers appeared first on She Makes Music.

“‘Cringeworthy’ cuts straight to the core. It’s about putting down that heavy suitcase filled with someone else’s shame and emotional burden, sometimes for years, or even our whole life,” says Cain. “This song is about deciding you aren’t going to do that anymore. It’s about leaving their baggage at the door.”

Born from Cain’s own experiences unpacking generational trauma through therapy, the song wrestles with the blurry line between inherited pain and personal identity and what it means to finally reclaim your own power.

“Considering what we’re learning as a country about generational trauma and how it cycles through families and generations forever, I hope this song touches a nerve and inspires people to recognize and let go of all the muck,” she explains. “Of course, we’re the Crushers, so there’s always the tongue-in-cheek element. The idea of being ‘cringeworthy’ is a totally modern concept that feels heavier and more dangerous than Gen Z probably wants to believe. Everyone wants to be aloof, cool and untouchable these days, even if it’s just for Instagram. The truth is that we are all ‘cringe’ to someone else, and often the ones ‘cringing’ aren’t even in the arena. If you’re in the game, living without fear, you will be cringeworthy. That is a 100% inevitability. I see that as a badge of pride.”

Musically, ‘Cringeworthy’ channels everything the Crushers do best: explosive hooks, candy-coated chaos, razor-wire honesty, and enough glitter to disguise the bruises. “What started as a more literary, introspective song took some wrestling to get right — a push and pull between poetic instinct and emotional clarity,” Cain says. “A good song needs both bones and heart, and that tension is exactly what gives the track its punch. It’s simple, it’s clear and it’s powerful.”

The post Hayley and the Crushers embrace the beauty of being ‘Cringeworthy’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

A long-beloved fan favorite at their shows, ‘Jewel Case’ has been finally captured in all its full-throttle, studio quality glory, alongside a visceral new video that bottles the band’s famously chaotic live energy. Equal parts glitter-drenched anthem and unhinged confession, ‘Jewel Case’ arrives as both a celebration of the band’s past and a statement of intent for what’s next. Hayley adds about the track, “I wrote it in 2016 – one of the first Crushers songs ever – and it never got a proper recording, and yet we’ve closed every live set with it since. Audiences know it. It became our signature. It felt like the right time to finally give the song what it deserves: all the power and presence we could muster. These days we joke that we’re ‘born to be mild’ – but ‘Jewel Case’ keeps proving otherwise.”

That raw, unfiltered spirit takes center stage in the accompanying video, which trades polish for pure adrenaline. Shot to mirror the band’s closing-set frenzy, the visual is a sweat-soaked, no-holds-barred performance that drops viewers directly into the Crushers’ world. “There’s always been a gap between our more polished records and what we actually are live, which is pure chaos and sweat,” Hayley explains. “Because ‘Jewel Case’ is always our closer, we wanted the video to capture that closing-set energy – what it feels like when we’re really going for it. Just us, in the flesh, going as hard as humanly possible.”

The post Hayley and the Crushers release long-awaited anthem ‘Jewel Case’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

She says the song was written from the perspective of a music scene veteran who sees unfamiliar people come in and make changes. “Creative environments and communities are always fraught with this tension of new and old, reverence for the past and the courage to push forward,” she adds. “At some point, the bubble bursts and things start changing. Maybe that’s neither a good nor bad thing. But it’s always rich territory!”

The post Hayley and the Crushers play halfsies between grit and glitz with new single ‘Unsubscribe’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Helmed by husband-and-wife team guitarist Hayley Crusher Cain and bass player Dr. Cain ESQ (with Action Ben Cabreana on drums), Modern Adult Kicks, out September 13 via Kitten Robot Records, was produced by legendary LA punk producer Paul Roessler (TSOL, Josie Cotton, Richie Ramone) and mastered by Mass Giorgini (Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Alkaline Trio) at Sonic Iguana Studios.

‘Taboo,’ the latest album single (out everywhere today), is a pulsing Pat Benatar-styled pop-rock anthem that leaves the listener feeling equally haunted and hunted. Said Hayley, “You can tell we had fun on Kicks, but the fun is more wicked.”

The accompanying ‘Taboo’ music video was filmed in Detroit, a far cry from the band’s beachy San Luis Obispo, California stomping grounds. “Not only is it an insanely cool music town, but Detroit is also full of community spirit and can-do creativity,” Hayley said of her gritty new residence. “We filmed at our favorite vintage store in Mexicantown (Flamingo Vintage), a thrift-punk fever dream.” Additional scenes showcase the band’s unfinished attic, perched atop a 1920s fixer-upper.

Modern Adult Kicks:

1. Taboo
2. Cul-de-Sac
3. She Drives
4. Broken Window
5. I Fall
6. Click and Act Now!
7. Lost Cause
8. California Sober
9. Surf of Flag (vinyl exclusive)
10. No Substitute (The Shivvers cover)
11. Overexposed

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