Philadelphia emo punks Longfriend Timefriend have shared their new single, “No Relief” today. The track perfectly embodies the raw energy of hanging out in a basement and yelling along to fast songs with your best friends. Listen to it now below.
Lyrically, the song vibrantly captures the feeling of being abandoned by your government (avowed enemies and purported allies alike) in a crisis. It’s about how disability and queerness make the reality of the conditions we live under even harsher — how waiting without really anything to wait for steadily takes its toll. Longfriend Timefriend’s Em McMahon said of the song, “More than anything, we hope that ‘No Relief’ provides folks with catharsis, a feeling of community, and an opportunity to sing along.”
“No Relief” is the band’s first release since their February 2021 debut album If Me Dies, Me Dies. That album was recorded at the iconic Philadelphia studio Headroom with Kyle Pulley, who has made their name producing some of the scene’s brightest new hopes, including Hop Along, Adult Mom, Diet Cig, Kississippi & more. What came out of those sessions, and continues to inspire Longfriend Timefriend, was an attitude that is more than screaming in anguish over trying to exist in 21st Century America (though it definitely was that too). It was also about celebrating the ways we survive: through the love of friends, community, and even strangers. Basically, the real Longfriends are the Timefriends you make along the way.
Said bassist Louie Fantini, “we pour that love into every room we’re lucky enough to share with friends, old and new. Hell, let us play your basement and we’ll probably be friends too.”