Hardcore started as a loud and abrasive challenge to the status quo. It gave the downtrodden, the outliers, the weirdos, and anyone angry at the establishment a kind of church – a space free from judgement and united by the sense that something in our country and communities was broken. Sometime between the 2000’s and post-covid it was co-opted by a group of people who wanted to be mad, and it didn’t necessarily matter who or what they were mad about. It was taken over by musicians who took advantage of the cultural and political climate and monetized the scene for their own gain.
Gottlieb stands opposed to that haphazard and opportunistic mentality on their new single “Pipe Bomb.” The song lands like a mission statement for action. Ceremony, and Refused before them, have carried the torch for this activism. Anarchy should never be in fashion, it should be a shared belief in wanting things to improve at all costs. The “pipe bomb” is a metaphor for the current landscape of landfill hardcore and punk bands that want to be mad but don’t really have a need to be mad.
The song is raw and opens with a loud thud from the drums, and then the chord progression kicks in with an immediate burst of energy. Andrew’s opening line “Nothing more dangerous than a failed artist” comes with a sense of urgency and lays the road map for the mission statement of the song. Currently our policies from our government aren’t working, and corporations are bending and breaking the rules at their leisure. Gottleib’s first single “Pipe Bomb” is an attempt to get us to pay attention and what better way than by lighting a fire under our ass.
“Pipe Bomb” is released ahead of Gottlieb’s upcoming album, The Far Fallen Fruit, out May 1st, 2026 via Quiet Panic. Preorder available here.
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