Doom Scroll stretch folk-punk into darker territory on Exhausted Dialogue
Doom Scroll have released their new album, Exhausted Dialogue, through Flail Records. The 11-track record finds the Colorado outfit taking their acoustic-led folk-punk sound into more sprawling, abrasive and theatrical territory.
Built around acoustic guitar, mandolin and washboard percussion, the album folds in flashes of pop-punk melody, ska rhythms, crust-punk urgency, metal weight and cinematic arrangements. It is a record rooted in repetition and fatigue: the grind of facing personal and political pressures without much sense of resolution.
Vocalist and guitarist Elliot Lozier said: “Exhausted Dialogue is an album about internal and external struggle. Rarely do we find any kind of reprieve when facing these struggles, and it felt like we were beating a dead horse by singing about these topics again and again.”
The title draws from video-game terminology, referring to the point where a player has repeatedly spoken to a non-playable character until there is nothing new left to hear. Lozier connected that idea to the circular frustration at the centre of the record.
From bad luck to endless labour
Previously released singles The Ravine, Zugzwang and Sisyphus appear on the album. The Ravine confronts a run of seemingly cursed bad luck, while Zugzwang addresses the dead-end calculations of war. Sisyphus, meanwhile, turns the Greek myth towards the numbing routine of working merely to survive.
Doom Scroll recorded the album themselves, with Lozier and guitarist Jon Pizarro tracking it in their bedrooms. Grammy Award-winning engineer Jason Livermore mixed and mastered the record, while Ian Cook of Larry and His Flask guests on Horsemen.
The full Exhausted Dialogue track listing
- Awakening II
- Panopticon
- The Ravine
- Zugzwang
- Sisyphus
- Exhausted Dialogue
- Crooked Nails
- We Were Known to Ramble
- Horsemen (feat. Larry and His Flask)
- Holy Flesh
- The Slow Passing of Time
North American dates continue into 2027
Doom Scroll are currently taking Exhausted Dialogue on the road, with a run of autumn dates alongside Johnny Lawhorn and the Pentagram String Band, Canadian shows in November, and further appearances with Apes of the State, Frog Legs and Sister Wife Sex Strike lined up.
- October 29 — Huntsville, AL — Mad Malts
- October 30 — Chattanooga, TN — JJ’s Bohemia
- October 31 — Murfreesboro, TN — Redacted
- November 2 — Cincinnati, OH — The Comet
- November 3 — Lansing, MI — The Green Door
- November 4 — Columbus, OH — Spacebar
- November 5 — Buffalo, NY — Nietzsche’s (with Redd & The Paper Flowers)
- November 6 — Pittsburgh, PA — Mr. Roboto Project
- November 7 — New Hope, PA — John and Peter’s
- November 8 — Wallingford, CT — Cherry Street Station
- November 10 — South Windsor, ME — Squashed Warehouse
- November 11 — Medford, MA — Deep Cuts
- November 13 — Saint Albans City, VT — 14th Star Brewing Co.
- November 14 — Québec City, QC — Le Scanner
- November 15 — Montreal, QC — Foufounes Électriques
- November 16 — Ottawa, ON — Dominion Tavern
- November 17 — Toronto, ON — Monarch Tavern (with The You & Me’s)
- November 18 — Hamilton, ON — Mills Hardware
- November 19 — Guelph, ON — Sonic Hall
- November 20 — London, ON — Holy Diver
- November 21 — Toledo, OH — Ottawa Tavern
- November 22 — Chicago, IL — Reggies Rock Club
- December 19 — Millersville, PA — Phantom Power (with Apes of the State and Frog Legs)
- February 3 — Bellingham, WA — Karate Church
- February 4 — Olympia, WA — Wild Child
- February 5 — Portland, OR — High Limit Room
- February 7 — Eugene, OR — Rad Eugene
- February 9 — Berkeley, CA — 924 Gilman
- February 10 — San Pedro, CA — The Sardine (with Moon Bandits)
- February 11 — Las Vegas, NV — Voodoo Brewing Company (with Rifleman)
